What do patients know about their joint replacement implants?

Abstract

Following a hip or knee replacement, patients may have little information about their prosthesis. This can lead to anxiety in the face of media reports about failing implants or misconceptions about how to live with a joint replacement. The aim of this study was to determine the level of understanding amongst patients who had undergone joint replacement in order to inform the development of an educational intervention. A cross-sectional, questionnaire-based survey. The survey was administered to patients attending an orthopaedic arthroplasty follow up clinic between June 2012 and October 2012. Patients were selected in a convenience sampling manner and had all undergone joint replacement at least three months prior to the survey. Responses were available from 52 patients; 49/52 (94%) of patients did not know what model of joint replacement they had and 44/52 (85%) did not know what materials the implant was made from. There was wide variation in recall of advice about activity restrictions. Whilst patients used the internet and other sources to look for advice, this survey suggests the most appropriate educational intervention for this population would involve written information including advice about type of implant, activity restrictions, dental treatment and airport security detectors.