The Effects of Postdischarge Telephone Counseling and Short Message Service on the Knee Function, Activities of Daily Living, and Life Satisfaction of Patients Undergoing Total Knee Replacement.

Only 40 patients were analysed, from one university hospital, so the results may not apply to other settings. The groups did not start with the same knee function: mean WOMAC scores were 2.33 in the telephone group and 2.75 in the SMS group before surgery. There was no usual-care control group; both groups received discharge education and an exercise video, so the study cannot show that either follow-up method improves outcomes beyond standard care. Follow-up was only 3 months, and activities of daily living worsened at 1 month, so the study does not show what happens later in recovery. Telephone counseling was limited to 5 minutes per session, and SMS was not responsive to patient need, so the comparison may not reflect longer or adaptive telephone care.

Do not conclude that SMS improves recovery after knee replacement. The study compared SMS with telephone counseling, and both groups also received discharge education and an exercise video, so it cannot show either method works better than usual follow-up.