Effects of movement-specific reinvestment on upper-limb prosthesis control and user experience

Mohamed, Mohamed O, Wood, Greg ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0851-7090, Wright, David J ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9568-0237, Uiga, Liis ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5371-9428, Masters, Rich S W and Parr, Johnny V V ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3096-2601 (2025) Effects of movement-specific reinvestment on upper-limb prosthesis control and user experience. Disability and Rehabilitation. ISSN 0963-8288

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Abstract

Purpose Prosthetic hand devices are frequently abandoned as they are difficult to use and impose high mental workload upon users. However, researchers are yet to establish whether personality factors might contribute to these negative prosthetic hand experiences. In this study, we examined whether key prosthetic hand outcome measures were associated with the trait inclination for conscious movement control—a phenomenon termed “reinvestment” that can impair motor performance and deplete cognitive resources. Materials and methods A cross-sectional survey was distributed online to a sample of upper-limb prosthesis users. Thirty-six respondents answered demographic questions and completed three questionnaires related to device satisfaction, trait reinvestment, and mental workload. Results Correlational analysis revealed that a greater propensity for movement-specific reinvestment was associated with lower prosthesis satisfaction, higher mental workload, and lower levels of perceived device predictability. It was also found that mental workload mediated the relationship between reinvestment tendencies and both device satisfaction and hours of prosthesis use per day. Conclusions This study provides first evidence that trait reinvestment is negatively implicated in the control and satisfaction of prosthetic hand use. We suggest that training interventions for prosthetic hand use should aim to limit the long-term reliance on conscious control of movements. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Motor reinvestment is a personality trait which is positively associated with mental workload for prosthetic hand users. An increase in mental workload is related to prosthesis users becoming dissatisfied with their device and a decrease in the utilisation of its function. Reinvestment is thus seen to negatively implicate prosthetic hand control and satisfaction. Interventions such as the use of errorless learning should be explored with the aim to determine if reinvestment is causal to mental workload and reduce its detrimental effects.