Does Patient Perception of Pain Influence How Patients Rate Their Experience after Total Knee Arthroplasty?

Abstract

Press Ganey (PG) is an increasingly used measure to determine patient satisfaction. It has yet to be determined which factors influence the PG scores most amongst patients with inadequate pain control after total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Therefore, we assessed (1) which PG factors influence overall hospital rating (OHR) in patients who had poor pain control in comparison to those with good pain control and (2) whether pain control influences OHR during hospital admission following TKA. An institutional database search was performed between November 2009 and January 2015 for all TKA patient responders to the PG questionnaire. This yielded 148 patients (mean = 61 years; range, 24–92 years). Pain control was graded on a scale from 1(least satisfied) to 4 (most satisfied). Patients were separated into two cohorts: those who had poor pain control (score ≤ 2) and those who had good pain control (score > 2). Multiple regression analysis assessed the weighted means (β) of all PG categories on OHR. To compare the demographics and survey responses between the two cohorts, χ 2 and t-tests were utilized. For patients with poor pain control, the responsiveness of hospital support staff had the highest influence on OHR (β = 2.103), followed by communication about medications (β = 1.230). For patients with good pain control, communication with nurses had the strongest effect on hospital rating (β = 0.233, p = 0.056), followed by communication about medications (β = 0.200, p = 0.049). The patients with good pain control had significantly higher OHR (6.0 vs. 9.1, p = ≤ 0.001) and scores in each category of PG. Communication about medications and responsiveness of hospital staff had a significant effect on OHR. Well-controlled patients were highly influenced by communication of medication and communication with nurses. Moreover, patients with good pain control had significantly higher scores in all areas of PG survey, signifying that patient perception of pain affects patient satisfaction with the hospital. Orthopaedists should be involved in direct efforts to improve pain control as well as address the aforementioned PG domains.