The self-administered patient satisfaction scale for primary hip and knee arthroplasty

Introduction. The objective of this study was to develop a short self-report questionnaire for evaluating patient satisfaction with the outcome of hip and knee replacement surgery. Methods. This scale consists of four items focusing on satisfaction with the extent of pain relief, improvement in ability to perform home or yard work, ability to perform recreational activities, and overall satisfaction with joint replacement. This instrument does not measure satisfaction with process of care. The responses are scored on a Likert scale, with the total score ranging from 25 to 100 per question. The instrument was tested on 1700 patients undergoing primary total hip and total knee replacement surgery, evaluated preoperatively, at 12 weeks, and one year postoperatively. Psychometric testing included internal consistency, measured with Cronbach's alpha, and convergent validity, measured by correlation with changes in measures of health status between the preoperative, 12-week, and one-year evaluations. Results. The internal consistency (reliability) of the scale, measured by the Cronbach's alpha, ranged from 0.86 to 0.92. The scale demonstrated substantial ceiling effects at 1 year. The scale scores correlated modestly with the absolute SF-36 PCS and WOMAC scores (ρ = 0.56-0.63 and also with the WOMAC change scores (ρ = 0.38-0.46) at both 12-week and 1-year followups. Conclusions. This instrument is valid and reliable for measuring patient satisfaction following primary hip and knee arthroplasty and could be further evaluated for use with other musculoskeletal interventions.