Publication Date

2023

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Blaschak, MJ

Degree Name

Ph.D. (Doctor of Philosophy)

Legacy Department

School of Allied Health and Communicative Disorders

Abstract

One of the most common surgical treatment options for knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a total knee arthroplasty (TKA), which utilizes a combination of metal and plastic to resurface the damaged cartilage surfaces of the knee, leading to decreased pain and improved function for the patient. However, despite fairly good subjective scores following surgery, up to 20% of patients report being dissatisfied with their outcome. Previous research has assessed reasons for this high dissatisfaction rate including postoperative range of motion (ROM), preoperative education, and postoperative strength. Nevertheless, there continues to be a paucity in the literature regarding how preoperative function affects postoperative satisfaction. Three studies were performed to determine factors leading to satisfaction following surgery including an assessment of subjective function before surgery, objective function before surgery, as well as a qualitative analysis utilizing semi structured interviews to ask patients about their preoperative experience and how it affected postoperative satisfaction.

Subjectively, it was discovered that patients having lower preoperative scores, indicating worse function, can lead to higher rates of satisfaction after surgery. Objectively, lower gait speeds before surgery can lead to higher rates of satisfaction following surgery. Lastly, through a qualitative analysis, it was found that most patients value their healthcare provider developing and setting realistic expectations preoperatively through high level education more so than hitting certain objective thresholds for measures like ROM and strength. The results of the three studies show that a patient meeting expectations, independent of their preoperative objective function, may be the most important factor leading to satisfaction following TKA.

Extent

118 pages

Language

en

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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