Premium
Early recovery following lower limb arthroplasty: Qualitative interviews with patients undergoing elective hip and knee replacement surgery. Initial phase in the development of a patient‐reported outcome measure
Author(s) -
Strickland Louise H,
Kelly Laura,
Hamilton Thomas W,
Murray David W,
Pandit Hemant G,
Jenkinson Crispin
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of clinical nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.94
H-Index - 102
eISSN - 1365-2702
pISSN - 0962-1067
DOI - 10.1111/jocn.14086
Subject(s) - arthroplasty , medicine , knee replacement , hip arthroplasty , hip replacement , physical therapy , knee surgery , lower limb , hip surgery , surgery , osteoarthritis , alternative medicine , pathology
Aims and objectives To explore the patients' perspective of surgery and early recovery when undergoing lower limb (hip or knee) arthroplasty. Background Lower limb arthroplasty is a commonly performed procedure for symptomatic arthritis, which has not responded to conservative medical treatment. Each patient's perspective of the surgical process and early recovery period impacts on their quality of life. Design Open, semistructured qualitative interviews were used to allow for a deeper understanding of the patient perspective when undergoing a hip or knee arthroplasty. Methods Following ethical approval, 30 patients were interviewed between August and November 2016 during the perioperative period while undergoing an elective hip or knee arthroplasty ( n = 30). The interviews were performed between the day of surgery and a nine‐week postoperative clinic appointment. Data were analysed using an in‐depth narrative thematic analysis method. NV ivo qualitative data analysis software was used. Results Seven main themes evolved from the interviews: “improving function and mobility”, “pain”, “experiences of health care”, “support from others”, “involvement and understanding of care decisions”, “behaviour and coping” and “fatigue and sleeping”. Conclusions The early postoperative recovery period is of vital importance to all surgical patients. This is no different for the orthopaedic patient. However, identifying key self‐reported areas of importance from patients can guide clinical focus for healthcare professionals. Relevance to clinical practice To have specific patient‐reported information regarding key areas of importance during the perioperative phase is invaluable when caring for the orthopaedic surgical patient. It gives insight and understanding in to this increasing population group. This study has also served as a starting point in the development of a questionnaire which could be used to assess interventions in the lower limb arthroplasty population. These results will influence both items and content of the questionnaire.