Preoperative education in hip and knee arthroplasty patients in Bloemfontein.
Roline Y Barnes, Karen Bodenstein, Nadia Human and 6 others
PMID 39371259WHAT IT FOUND
All 14 hip and 35 of 36 knee replacement patients said surgeons gave their preoperative education; 8 hip and 9 knee said a physiotherapist did.
Many had no preoperative exercise teaching or home safety advice.
Key findings
01All 14 total hip arthroplasty participants and 35 (98%) total knee arthroplasty participants indicated receiving preoperative education from an orthopaedic surgeon, while 8 (57%) total hip and 9 (25%) total knee participants indicated receiving it from a physiotherapist.
02Eleven (76%) total hip and 27 (74%) total knee participants did not receive any education regarding preoperative exercises.
03Nine (64%) total hip and 28 (78%) total knee participants received no education on removing tripping hazards and clutter, and 19 (53%) total knee participants were not informed they would need assistance for the first 2 weeks after surgery.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study used convenience sampling and only included private-sector patients in Bloemfontein, so the results may not represent public-sector patients or other regions. One hospital site was excluded because the number of possible participants was limited. The questionnaire was self-developed and was not validated or reliability tested for this study. Interviews happened 2 to 4 days after surgery, so patients may have confused preoperative and postoperative education. Participants were only included if they could converse in English or Afrikaans, and health literacy was not measured. The questionnaire did not distinguish what information came from surgeons versus physiotherapists. Patients were not asked whether they had read pamphlets, so written education may not mean understanding.
The easy way to misread this
Do not read these gaps as proof that physiotherapy preoperative education improves outcomes. This survey only reported what patients said they received and needed; it did not test an education programme or patient outcomes.