Educational needs of patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty

To identify the educational needs of adults who undergo total hip and total knee replacement surgery.

A qualitative research design using a semi-standardized interviewing method was employed. A purposive sampling technique was used to recruit participants, who were eligible if they were scheduled to undergo total hip or total knee replacement or had undergone total hip or total knee replacement in the previous 3 to 6 months. A comparative contrast method of analysis was used.

Of 22 potential participants who were approached, 15 participated. Five were booked for upcoming total hip or total knee replacement and 10 had undergone at least one total hip or total knee replacement in the previous 3 to 6 months. Several themes related to specific educational needs and factors affecting educational needs, including access, preoperative phase, surgery and medical recovery, rehabilitation process and functional recovery, fears, and expectations counterbalanced with responsibility, emerged from the interviews.

Educational needs of adults who undergo total hip and knee replacement surgery encompass a broad range of topics, confirming the importance of offering an all-inclusive information package regarding total hip and total knee replacement.