Patient Expectations and Total Knee Arthroplasty
Others have recognized that perspectives and expectations of surgical outcomes differ between patient and surgeon [43–45]. Overall, surgeons’ expectations tend to be more optimistic than patients expectations of outcomes, although a subset of patients may have unrealistically high expectations [46]. Patients do not always realize that some of their expectations cannot be met by current orthopedic procedures, and this gap in understanding is an important source of discrepancies in expectations and patient dissatisfaction [46]. Ghomrawi and colleagues reported that approximately one-third of 205 patients undergoing primary TKA had higher expectations than their surgeons did. Being male and having lower preoperative pain was associated with having discordantly higher preoperative expectations [44]. For realistic expectations to be set, patients need accurate and understandable information about expected positive outcomes of surgery such as level of function and symptom relief as well as the risk of joint failure, adverse events, complications, and activity limitations. Although little work has explored the alignment of patient and surgeon’s expectations, setting realistic expectations may be aided by using a shared decision making approach that incorporates patient preferences and values, the best available evidence, and the surgeon’s expertise.
Expectations and Willingness to Undergo Surgery
Although total joint replacement is an effective treatment for advanced arthritis, approximately 30% of potential candidates are “unwilling” to proceed with surgery [47,48]. Willingness is a component of the medical decision making process and is influenced by preferences. Potential surgical candidates unwilling to proceed with surgery tend to be older, female, and from ethnic minor-ity groups [12,47–49]. Preference-sensitive medical decisions, such as whether or not to proceed with TKA, are related to patients’ attitudes and perceptions, which can be affected by sociocultural influences. In a cohort of 627 male patients with moderate to severe OA who were viewed as “good” candidates for total joint arthroplasty, more African Americans (24%) than Caucasian Americans (15%) had lower expectations for outcomes of surgery [35]. In particular, African Americans expressed concerns about postoperative pain and walking. Similar findings were also reported in another study in which minority patients were less likely to consider TKA [12]. Determinants of preferences were patients’ beliefs about the efficacy of the procedure and knowing others who had already undergone TKA [12]. Ibrahim and colleagues postulated that outcome expectations mediated or influenced the willingness to undergo total joint arthroplasty surgery [49]. Interventional work that built upon this premise suggested that willingness to proceed with TKA could be modified by educational interventions. In a randomized controlled trial of 639 African American patients attending Veteran’s Affairs primary clinics who received a decision aid with or without brief counseling, willingness to proceed with TKA increased and patient-provider communication improved among the patients who received any intervention [50]. Yet in another randomized trial involving African American patients who received care from an academic center, a combination decision aid and motivational interviewing strategy was no better than an educational pamphlet in improving patients’ preferences toward joint replacement surgery for knee OA [51]. This led the authors to recommend further exploration of patients’ knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes regarding surgical treatments for OA.
Effect of Expectations on Health Outcomes and Satisfaction
Some evidence suggests that better outcomes are seen in patients with higher expectations of recovery and, in turn, expectations that are met influence patient satisfaction. A systematic review of several chronic conditions showed with consistency across studies that positive recovery expectations were associated with better health outcomes [22]. The effect size varied with the condition and measure; however, none of the 16 studies examined arthritis or joint arthroplasty. Conversely, a systematic review of 18 prospective longitudinal cohort studies examining the association between expectation and outcomes (ie, pain, function, stiffness, satisfaction, overall improvement) reported less than convincing evidence of an association between patient preoperative expectations and treatment outcomes for THA and TKA in terms of short- and long-term postoperative pain and functional outcomes [15]. No consistent associations were seen with adjusted analysis of patient expectations and pain or functional outcomes at greater than 6 weeks [15]. Inconsistencies seen among the reviewed articles may be related to a number of issues centred on terminology, construct, expectation measures, and confounding effects.
Although TKA is an effective surgical procedure with large gains reported, 14% to 25% participants report little or no symptom improvement and/or dissatisfaction up to 1 year after surgery [1,52–59]. In a study with 5 years of follow-up, a decline in the satisfaction rate was seen after 1 year, although this decline was seen more so with physical function than with pain [38]. Although dissatisfaction can be attributed to surgical complications, in many cases, no technical or medical reasons can be identified. In a subset of patients who received TKA, surgical intervention does not adequately address patients’ concerns of pain and activity limitation. To compound matters, fair agreement was reported between patient and surgeon regarding satisfaction at 6 and 12 months postoperative. Disagreement between the patient and surgeon was explained by unmet expectations and postoperative complications [60]. When there was discordance, more often than not patients were less satisfied with TKA outcomes than surgeons [60,61].
While several theories explain patient satisfaction [62–65], evidence from total joint arthroplasty studies support the concept that satisfaction is derived from fulfillment of expectations [17,52]. Preoperative expectations are not to be confused with postoperative fulfilment of expectations, which are reflective of whether expectations of treatment have been met. Satisfaction is a value judgment and can be viewed as an affective domain, whereas expectation is a cognitive domain [66]. Patient satisfaction is regarded as the extent of a person’s experience compared to their expectation. As with expectations, a number of theoretical constructs exist concerning patient satisfaction [14,67]. Many dimensions of satisfaction exist, with patient expectations being central to these constructs. Deviation from expectations, however, does not necessarily correspond to dissatisfaction [67].
Several patient-related factors are associated with satisfaction with TKA, including primary diagnosis, preoperative pain and function, and mental health, including depression, but the relationships of satisfaction with gender, age, and comorbid conditions are less certain [33,38,52,55,56,68]. Greater preoperative pain, postoperative complications, lower 1-year WOMAC scores and functional limitations were associated with dissatisfied patients [38,52,53,59]. While no consistent associations were seen with preoperative expectations, consistent evidence has shown that fulfillment of expectations has an impact on satisfaction [31,36,52,58,69].
It should be acknowledged that the concept of fulfillment of expectations is not the same as satisfaction. A patient can be satisfied with TKA even though their expectations have not been met. The fulfillment of expectations is dependent upon the type of expectation and the postoperative time period. Fulfillment of expectations were seen with pain relief, function, walking and health status [25,31,70] while patients expectations were not always met with leisure activities [38].
