Why are so many patients dissatisfied with knee replacement surgery? Exploring variations of the patient experience

The purpose of this research is to determine why such high numbers of patients – up to 1 in 5 – who undergo knee replacement surgery are dissatisfied with the outcomes of their surgery. Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA), is the most requested joint replacement surgery in Canada, and will continue to increase in response to the needs of an aging population.   A greater understanding of the variations in patient outcomes, and the factors that contribute to the dissatisfaction rate, will inform surgical program planning and help to standardize procedures and services to achieve better outcomes.

Principal Investigator:

Members:

  • Stirling Bryan
    Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute

The purpose of this research is to determine why such high numbers of patients – up to 1 in 5 – who undergo knee replacement surgery are dissatisfied with the outcomes of their surgery. Total Knee Arthroplasty (TKA), is the most requested joint replacement surgery in Canada, and will continue to increase in response to the needs of an aging population.   A greater understanding of the variations in patient outcomes, and the factors that contribute to the dissatisfaction rate, will inform surgical program planning and help to standardize procedures and services to achieve better outcomes.

The primary objectives of the study are to:

  1. Identify variations in the patient experience with primary knee replacement surgery by measuring clinical outcomes, health status, and patient satisfaction; and
  2. To explore the factors contributing to good/poor clinical and patient outcomes, such as surgical factors, health system factors, socioeconomic demographic factors and psychological factors.

A prospective cohort study will be conducted with recruitment of patients from across
British Columbia. A combination of both quantitative and qualitative approaches will be adopted. It is expected that the results obtained in the TKA population will be generalizable to other types of surgeries. Therefore, this project has relevance to the BC health system, as well as the significant potential to improve patient care and impact health system design.