Children in Cambodia provide key design priorities for below-knee prostheses: independence, functionality, comfort and cosmetic appearance
Author(s)
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Children with disabilities in low-resource environments (LREs) face major barriers to education, participation, and well-being. Assistive technologies like prostheses can help, but current solutions often fail to meet child-specific needs, particularly in LREs. This study engages pediatric prosthesis users in Cambodia to identify their unique user needs. This study used a novel interactive interview with card games and functional mobility assessment. While the card games and mobility assessment provided quantitative data, the interview responses were analyzed using thematic analysis. Six themes emerged from the analysis, demonstrating children remarkable understanding of both benefits and limitations of their prostheses. They appreciated the independence and cosmetic appearance, but pointed to limited mobility, heavy components, and discomfort as major issues. These priorities were echoed in the card games, where anatomically looking prostheses were the most preferred style, and culturally important activities such as walking fast, sitting cross-legged and kneeling were ranked highest. Children clearly expressed what it is important for them and identified key areas for improvement in current prostheses to improve their social inclusion. Future prosthetic research and development must adopt a user-centered, culturally sensitive approach that actively involves children, ensuring prosthetic solutions meet their physical, emotional, and social needs.
Date Issued
2026-03-24
Date Acceptance
2026-03-04
Citation
Assistive Technology, 2026
ISSN
1040-0435
Publisher
Taylor and Francis Group
Journal / Book Title
Assistive Technology
Copyright Statement
© 2026 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
License URL
Identifier
10.1080/10400435.2026.2643688
Subjects
Below-knee
children
lowresource environments
pediatric
prosthetic user needs
questionnaire
Publication Status
Published online
Date Publish Online
2026-03-24