The Effects of Pre-Surgical Education on Patient Expectations in Total Knee Arthroplasties

As patients prepare for total-knee arthroplasty surgery, they have many expectations related to their long-term recovery and function. This research examined whether the use of a pre-surgical patient education class with an additional long-term expectation module addressing recovery during the first 12 months after surgery was more effective in modifying participant’s pre-surgical expectations than participants receiving the standard pre-surgical education class alone. Prior to the class each participant completed one disease-specific instrument, a general-health survey, and a total-knee replacement expectation survey. After the class, each participant once again completed the total-knee replacement survey. Included in the study were 42 participants who were enrolled in a pre-surgical education course that was randomized. The participants in the control group received the standard pre-surgical education addressing pre-surgical topics. The participants in the intervention group received the standard pre-surgical education plus an additional module that specifically addressed long-term recovery and function up to 12 months post surgery. The primary outcome of the data revealed that participants’ who received the standard pre-surgical education with the additional module and who had an educational level higher than highschool, had expectations that were able to be modified to coincide with the surgeons’ expectations.