Measuring patient perception and expectation

Patients undergoing arthroplasty surgery are routinely followed up in outpatient clinic. Our objective was to find out patients' view of their follow-up care after elective hip and knee arthroplasty and examine the influence of BOA guidelines for postoperative care. In this prospective study, 100 consecutive patients were given the questionnaire on second or third postoperative day. Fifty patients had undergone THR and fifty TKR. Half of each group (n=25) received an abstract of the BOA guidelines for postoperative care. The completed questionnaires were collected just before their discharge. 80% of patients preferred the operating surgeon/team at their follow-up. 66% of patients preferred either the surgeon or the specialist nurse/therapist over their GP for follow-up care, Interestingly, there was no significant difference between those who did or did not receive the BOA guidelines. Proposed changes to off-load outpatient services may be more cost-effective but may compromise patient satisfaction and ou...