A Brief History of English-Language Periodicals in Prosthetics and Orthotics
A. Bennett Wilson, Jr.
Although several periodicals were devoted to artificial limbs prior to 1946, they were directed toward amputees. The first English-language periodical written for practicing prosthetists and orthotists was the Orthopedic and Prosthetic Appliance Journal. This journal began publication in 1946 when the Artificial Limb Manufacturers' Association became the Orthopedic Appliance and Limb Manufacturers' Association, the immediate predecessor of the American Orthotic and Prosthetic Association. The journal's name was changed in June, 1967 to Orthotics and Prosthetics.
The next orthotics and prosthetics publication to appear in the English-speaking world was Artificial Limbs-A Review of Current Developments, which commenced publication in 1954 three times a year, and later was published twice a year. Artificial Limbs was published by the Advisory Committee on Artificial Limbs (later called the Committee on Prosthetics Research and Development) of the National Academy of Sciences, in order to provide, in a timely fashion, results of the U.S. artificial limb research program to clinical and other personnel concerned with the rehabilitation of amputees.
In 1972, the NAS staff felt, in keeping with their policy of turning over activities established by the NAS to appropriate organizations, that Orthotics and Prosthetics had matured to the point that it was appropriate for the journal to be responsible for publishing clinically useful results of research, thus making available for other purposes the funds that would have been used to publish and distribute Artificial Limbs.
In 1964, the Prosthetics and Sensory Aids Service of the Veterans Administration began semi-annual publication of the Bulletin of Prosthetics Research, with emphasis on reports of research activities and results. In 1983, the name was changed to the Journal of Rehabilitation Research and Development, as it remains today. In addition to four issues per year devoted to technical reports, a separate issue is dedicated to progress reports from the majority of the research projects in prosthetics, orthotics, and sensory aids in the English-speaking world. It is also the policy of the VA to publish from time to time "Clinical Supplements" to the Journal, in order to provide clinicians with state-of-the-art practices in a selected area, such as "recreation for the handicapped" or "wheelchairs."
During the late 1950s, the Committee on Prosthetics Research and Development (CPRD), as part of the U.S. Artificial Limb Program, organized a network of Child Amputee Clinics throughout the U.S. as a means of improving prosthetics services for children. To encourage rapid and timely interchange of information among the clinics, the Inter-Clinic Information Bulletin (ICIB) was initiated in 1961. The contents were mainly articles relating experiences and describing methods that had worked in a given clinic so that others could apply the technique or gadget without the inherent delays of more conventional publications. Primary responsibility for putting the bulletin together was initially assigned to New York University, then was transferred to CPRD, and is now back in the hands of NYU. The publication is produced under the auspices of the Association of Children's Prosthetic and Orthotic Clinics.
The ICIB was received with such enthusiasm that the Committee on Prosthetics and Orthotics Education (CPOE) of the NAS Artificial Limb Program applied the same concept to adult prosthetics and orthotics with the publication, beginning in 1969, of Newsletter-Amputee Clinics. This bulletin continued until the dissolution of CPRD and CPOE in 1976. Because Newsletter-Amputee Clinics was sorely missed, the American Academy of Orthotists and Prosthetists initiated publication in 1976 of a successor, which was entitled Newsletter-Prosthetic and Orthotic Clinics. In 1982, the title was changed to Clinical Prosthetics and Orthotics.
In the late 1950s, the International Committee on Prostheses, Braces and Technical
Aids of the International Society for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled began publication of a
technical journal, which was published sporadically until 1970. At that time the ICPO was reformed into the International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics (ISPO), and became a
separate entity. After Volume 1, the ICPO publication was renamed Prosthetics International.
Volume 2, Number 1 is dated simply "1964."
From January, 1972 through 1976, ISPO published the ISPO Bulletin quarterly, primarily to
keep the membership informed of administrative and technical developments. As the Society grew, it was able in 1977 to begin publication of Prosthetics International three times a
year as a scientific journal, as it remains today.
Because of the similar objectives of Orthotics and Prosthetics and Clinical Prosthetics
and Orthotics namely to provide clinicians
with information useful in their practice, the respective boards of AOPA and the Academy
agreed early in 1988 that a merger of the two
publications would result in an even more effective publication. The result is this first issue
of the Journal of Prosthetics and Orthotics
The Journal will be published quarterly. The
editorial board plans to alternate issues between
invited articles and submitted articles. Such an
arrangement permits the publication of issues
devoted to a single timely subject as well as
giving practitioners and researchers an opportunity to present the results of their efforts and
experiences.
A wide range of orthotics and prosthetics publications has evolved over the years.
The following is a letter to the editor that was printed in Vol. 1 Num.2 of the JPO regarding an update to this article.
Dear Editor,
Congratulations on the premier issue of JPO. It is certain to be a major contributor to the field.
Your readers will be interested in an update to Ben Wilson's article, "A Brief History of English-Language Periodicals in Prosthetics and Orthotics." The Inter-Clinic Information
Bulletin (ICIB) was renamed Journal of the Association of Children's Prosthetic-Orthotic Clinics in Autumn, 1985. Incidentally, New York University has no editorial or production or
financial responsibility for the journal, which is supported exclusively by the Association of Children's Prosthetic-Orthotic Clinics.
Joan E. Edelstein
Editor
Journal of the Association of Children's Prosthetic-Orthotic Clinics
c/o NYU Prosthetics and Orthotics
317 East 34th Street
New York, NY 10016
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