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NIH, DoD to develop registry for limb loss
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The NIH announced that in conjunction with the Department of Defense it is developing a new database that includes people in the U.S. living with limb loss that provides insight into the needs and challenges of this patient population.
Information included in the database includes sex, age and type of limb loss, according to a press release from the NIH.
“The Limb Loss and Preservation Registry addresses a significant public health knowledge gap,” Alison Cernich, PhD, director of the National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research at the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at NIH, said in the press release. “The information housed in this database will be vital to preventing limb loss, improving amputation surgeries, refining rehabilitation approaches and guiding the development of devices for people with limb loss.”
The National Center for Medical Rehabilitation Research has awarded a 5-year contract to Mayo Clinic to build and launch the registry, which will include information from electronic health records of adults and children in the U.S., according to the release. Access to the registry will be made available to researchers who are studying conditions and diseases that may result in limb loss, including diabetes and vascular disease.
The NIH is supporting the registry with the DoD to improve quality of care for veterans, active military personnel and civilian members of the U.S. population, according to the release.
“The joint effort between federal agencies allows us to collect data that will inform research and improve the lives of citizens coping with limb loss,” Cernich said in the press release.
Disclosure: Cernich is an employee of the NIH.