Consumer Aspects Including Cost-Effectiveness

There is an urgent need for the development of a standard reference terminology. A number of international bodies such as the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO) are actively working in this area. Examples of definitions used in the chapters presented are as follows: Handicap: characteristic which interferes with activities essential to the individual’s autonomy, consisting of personal and economic independence. Personal independence: consists of the basic activities of self-care and self-organisation, mobility in and manipulation of the environment, communication and socialisation with one’s fellow human beings. Economic independence: implies the capability of having resources for maintaining a life style on a par with one’s peers.