Understanding the apprehension and concern haunting patients before a total knee arthroplasty

Abstract

Abstract Purpose The aim of this prospective study was to understand the fear and apprehension factors that play on patient’s mind before total knee arthroplasty. Methods This retrospective cohort study included 500 consecutive patients (375 females and 125 males) who were scheduled to undergo total knee arthroplasty the next day. The patients were asked to list the most important fear in their mind regarding the operation in descending order of importance. They were given a questionnaire form which contained several capture points, including age, gender, educational background, occupation, and provision of help at home. Preoperative pain was measured by using the visual analog score, and its influence on the patients’ fear and apprehension factors was also measured. Results In this study, 58% of patients (50 males, 40%; 240 females, 64%) were fearful of the pain that they would experience after surgery and during the postoperative physiotherapy. The female patients showed more fear of pain than their male counterparts (P 0.05). 4% of patients were concerned about withstanding such a major operation. There was no difference between male and female patients (P > 0.05). Conclusion The majority of the patients experience apprehension of pain in the perioperative period of TKA. Preoperative counseling benefits pain management by alleviating the patient’s concerns about the fear of postoperative pain and apprehension of returning to normal walking.

Keywords

• Total knee arthroplasty
• Fear and apprehension
• Postoperative pain
• Patient counseling