Elsevier

The Journal of Arthroplasty

Volume 24, Issue 7, October 2009, Pages 1115-1119
The Journal of Arthroplasty

Determining Patient Concerns Before Joint Arthroplasty

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.arth.2008.08.007Get rights and content

Abstract

Despite the prevalence of studies relating to hip and knee arthroplasties, no Canadian studies exist in the literature regarding patients' perceptions and concerns prior to undergoing these procedures. A 32-question, 5-point Likert scale questionnaire was developed and administered to a Canadian cohort. One hundred fifty-six knee and 85 hip arthroplasty patients returned the survey. Results consistently showed complications arising from surgery, ways to reduce pain after surgery, and ability to walk properly again as the 3 top concerns for patients whether stratified by age, sex, residential status or joint replacement type. Other results discussed include resources used by patients to become better informed about joint arthroplasty, differences in Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Index of Osteoarthritis scores between groups, and significant differences in patient concerns as determined by ridit analyses.

Section snippets

Materials and Methods

A questionnaire was developed by a team of orthopedic surgeons and researchers with additional questions taken from a survey of a similar study [10]. The survey was piloted on 36 patients and tested for reliability and validity. The result was a 3-part, 32-question, 5-point Likert scale questionnaire. Part 1 consisted of patient demographics, health and surgical history as well as a list of resources commonly used to research joint arthroplasty. Specifically, respondents were asked to list

Results

One hundred fifty-six knee and 85 hip arthroplasty patients returned the survey. The mean age of the respondents was 67, and 59% of the respondents were women. There were no significant differences in ages, sex proportions, or number of reported comorbidities between the hip and knee patient groups. There were significant differences between joint type groups regarding numbers undergoing single and bilateral replacements. Significantly more hips were undergoing a single side replacement (P =

Discussion

Invasive surgical procedures can be a source of anxiety for the patient going through the process. As a result, information imparted to the patient could be unclear and misunderstood at the time of consultation or forgotten during their wait for surgery. The arthroplasty literature has mainly focused on outcomes, not patient concerns. The few studies in existence examining patient concerns involve different payer systems and, therefore, different health care systems.

We were able to find 3

Acknowledgment

The authors thank Jenny Harris and Anny Patterson for their help preparing the survey.

References (14)

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Cited by (14)

  • Concerns of an itinerant surgeon: Results of a guatemalan surgical aid trip

    2014, Journal of Arthroplasty
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    There are a myriad of examples in the literature detailing the need for surgical care in the developing world; however there are no investigations, to our knowledge, assessing patient impressions of their care [3,4,22–31]. There are examples from the US, Canada, Australia, and the UK on effective methods to assess the preoperative concerns of patients undergoing surgery and how those concerns can influence outcomes [18,32–37]. Other articles also demonstrate differences that exist along gender, racial, and cultural lines [38–41].

  • Gender differences in questions asked in an online preoperative patient education program

    2012, Gender Medicine
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    Adding to the complexity, gender may also contribute directly to the patient–provider relationship by influencing a physician's recommendations for surgery, how a patient and provider acclimate to one another during their interaction, patient satisfaction, and patient trust.4,6–9 Gender differences in concerns regarding joint replacement surgery have been documented.2,4,10,11 These studies suggest that women demonstrate a higher level of overall concern, ask more questions, are less satisfied with the information they receive, and raise more issues regarding physician distrust relative to men.

  • Are Hip Resurfacing Arthroplasties Meeting the Needs of Our Patients?. A 2-Year Follow-Up Study

    2012, Journal of Arthroplasty
    Citation Excerpt :

    Both these studies reported results comparable with ours; the UCLA, HHS, and SF scores were similar, with statistically significant improvements postoperatively [23,24]. In a recent study, patients with hip and knee arthroplasty were asked what their greatest concerns were going into their surgeries [25]. Patients' top 3 concerns were whether they would experience any complications, when they would be able to walk properly again, and how they could best reduce pain after the surgery.

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No benefits or funds were received in support of this study.

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