Background: The illiteracy index is high in public hospitals of developing countries,. We established a method in which patients are instructed before total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in a differentiated way without the necessity of reading any self-orientation.
Methods: We developed a multidisciplinary approach to improve patient education in TKA comprising of a differentiated orientation conducted by an orthopedic surgeon, a nurse and a physiotherapist. It consists of standardized lectures regarding on pre, intra and post-operative issues in a randomized controlled trial of 79 consecutive patients undergoing primary TKA. Thirty-four patients received the standard education (control group) and 45 patients received the differentiated education (intervention group). The patients were evaluated during at least six months.
Results: After a 6-month follow-up period, the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), the visual analogue pain scale (VAS) and knee range-of-motion (ROM) improved significantly in both groups. Range-of-motion was better in the intervention group (mean and SD - 106.9 ± 5.7 versus 92.5 ± 12.1 degrees, p = 0.02). Moreover, walk ability (more than 400 meters) was better in the intervention group compared with the control group (97.4% versus 72.4%, p = 0.003). In the intervention and control groups, respectively, 10.5% and 31% of patients reported the need for some walking devices (p = 0.03).
Conclusions: A differentiated educational program with a multidisciplinary team had a positive impact on functional outcomes, improving ROM and walk ability of patients undergoing TKA in a short-term evaluation.

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Posted 20 Jan, 2021
On 16 Jan, 2021
On 11 Jan, 2021
On 11 Jan, 2021
On 11 Jan, 2021
On 11 Nov, 2020
Received 18 Aug, 2020
Received 18 Aug, 2020
On 10 Aug, 2020
On 18 Jul, 2020
Invitations sent on 17 Jun, 2020
On 07 Jun, 2020
On 06 Jun, 2020
On 06 Jun, 2020
On 05 Jun, 2020
Posted 20 Jan, 2021
On 16 Jan, 2021
On 11 Jan, 2021
On 11 Jan, 2021
On 11 Jan, 2021
On 11 Nov, 2020
Received 18 Aug, 2020
Received 18 Aug, 2020
On 10 Aug, 2020
On 18 Jul, 2020
Invitations sent on 17 Jun, 2020
On 07 Jun, 2020
On 06 Jun, 2020
On 06 Jun, 2020
On 05 Jun, 2020
Background: The illiteracy index is high in public hospitals of developing countries,. We established a method in which patients are instructed before total knee arthroplasty (TKA) in a differentiated way without the necessity of reading any self-orientation.
Methods: We developed a multidisciplinary approach to improve patient education in TKA comprising of a differentiated orientation conducted by an orthopedic surgeon, a nurse and a physiotherapist. It consists of standardized lectures regarding on pre, intra and post-operative issues in a randomized controlled trial of 79 consecutive patients undergoing primary TKA. Thirty-four patients received the standard education (control group) and 45 patients received the differentiated education (intervention group). The patients were evaluated during at least six months.
Results: After a 6-month follow-up period, the Short Form Health Survey (SF-36), the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), the visual analogue pain scale (VAS) and knee range-of-motion (ROM) improved significantly in both groups. Range-of-motion was better in the intervention group (mean and SD - 106.9 ± 5.7 versus 92.5 ± 12.1 degrees, p = 0.02). Moreover, walk ability (more than 400 meters) was better in the intervention group compared with the control group (97.4% versus 72.4%, p = 0.003). In the intervention and control groups, respectively, 10.5% and 31% of patients reported the need for some walking devices (p = 0.03).
Conclusions: A differentiated educational program with a multidisciplinary team had a positive impact on functional outcomes, improving ROM and walk ability of patients undergoing TKA in a short-term evaluation.

Figure 1

Figure 2
This is a list of supplementary files associated with this preprint. Click to download.
Loading...