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OriginalArticle
T
INTRODUCTION
otal knee replacement (TKR) is a treatment of
knee osteoarthritis to relieve pain and improve
mobility when conservative treatments have
failed.1
In Thailand, there is no report on the number of
patients undergoing TKR. However, according to Thailand
Arthritis Foundation, in 2006, the number of patients with
knee osteoarthritis was higher than 6,000,000 patients and
the number has tended to increase due to the increasing
elderly population.
The Relationships Among Age, Body Mass Index,
Recovery Symptoms and Functional Status in
Patients after Total Knee Replacement
Puntaree Suppawach, M.NS*, Ketsarin Utriyaprasit, Ph.D. (Nursing)*, Tipa Toskulkao, Ph.D. (Neuroscience)*,
Pacharapol Udomkiat, M.D.**
*Faculty of Nursing, Mahidol University, **Department of Orthopedic, Faculty of Medicine Siriraj Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10700, Thailand.
Correspondence to: Ketsarin Utriyaprasit
E-mail: ketsarin.utr@mahidol.ac.th
Received 25 July 2013
Revised 31 October 2013
Accepted 12 December 2013
ABSTRACT
Background: The recovery period after total knee replacement (TKR) is perceived as one of crisis and associated with
recovery symptoms, and adverse physical functioning.
Objective: To study the relationships among age, BMI, recovery symptoms and functional status in Thai TKR patients.
Methods: A cross-sectional correlational design with patients after TKR who were first followed-up at the university hospital
were conducted. The data was collected by questionnaires on demographic and clinical characteristics. The recovery symptoms
after TKR were measured using the recovery symptoms and their functional status was measured using the Modified Thai
WOMAC score. Descriptive statistics and Pearson product moment correlation coefficient were utilized for data analysis
Results: This study included 88 eligible patients, (74 women, 14 men) with an average age of 67.63 years (S.D.=7.9), with an
average BMI 27.46 kg/m2
(S.D.=3.91). The most common recovery symptoms were pain (mean=6.41, S.D.=0.95), limping
(mean=5.02, S.D.=2.62), and numbness (mean=4.57, S.D.=2.64). The functional status found that most had heavy domestic
duties (mean=9.82, S.D.=0.51). Recovery symptoms had a positive relationship with functional status (r=0.395, p<0.01).
However, age and BMI were not statistically significant with functional status (r=0.037, 0.033, p>0.05 respectively).
Conclusion: This finding provides a beginning explanation about the phenomena of age, BMI, recovery symptoms and
functional status in a specific culture, Thai TKR patients. Interventions to improve functional outcomes in Thailand should
be tailored to recovery symptoms management.
Keywords: Total knee replacement, age, body mass index, recovery symptoms, functional status
Siriraj Med J 2014;66:66-69
E-journal: http://www.sirirajmedj.com
In general, TKR is aimed to improve quality of
life. However, it takes patients about one year to return
to normal functional status.2,3 During the recovery period,
patients have to encounter problems in functional status
such as walking, walking up or down stairs, sitting, having
movements, fulfilling domestic duties, and performing
activities of daily living and activities requiring energy
exertion.2,4
In addition, patients are faced with recovery symptoms during the early recovery phase. These symptoms
include pain,2,5 swelling,5,6 numbness,7
nausea, vomiting,
stomachache, lack of appetite, and constipation.8
Recovery
symptoms and their relationship with functional status
after TKR have been evaluated in a number of studies,
most of which focus on relationships between pain and
functional status.2,3
Most of the patients undergoing TKR are elderly.9
They are likely to have co-morbidities that give them more Siriraj Med J, Volume 66, Number 3, May-June 2014 67
risks to postoperative complications than patients in other
age groups.
10 In contrast, some studies have found that
age has no effect on functional status in patients after
TKR;11 therefore, more studies are needed.
There has been much interest concerning how
patients undergoing TKR have higher BMI than normal.12
BMI is another factor which affects functional status, as
higher BMI has more likelihood for postoperative complications and poorer outcomes of TKR.13 However, in
other studies comparing BMI, it was found that BMI has
no effect on functional status after TKR.14
In Thailand, there are no studies investigating the
relationships among age, BMI, recovery symptoms, and
functional status in TKR patients. The present study aimed
to explore age, BMI, recovery symptoms, and functional
status, and examine their relationships in patients after
TKR at the first follow-up (2 weeks) to better understand
the early recovery phase in TKR patients.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Participants and sample size
Participants were patients after TKR, recruited
by convenience sampling from a university hospital in
the central region of Thailand between September and
December 2012. Patients who met the following inclusion
criteria were approached: (a) suffering from knee osteoarthritis, (b) undergoing TKR for the first time, (c) having
first follow-up following discharge, (d) being mentally
competent, and (e) being literate in Thai. The exclusion
criteria were (a) having a co-morbidity affecting functioning and mobility and (b) having history of psychoneurological abnormality.
The sample size was calculated using the Table
of Power Analysis of Polit and Beck15, with the level of
confidence (α) of 0.05. The power of test was 0.80, with
the effect size of 0.30. A sample size of 88 was necessary.
Instrument for assessments
Recovery symptoms were measured using the
Recovery Symptoms modified by the researcher from the
Activities of Daily Living Scale of the Knee Outcome
Survey16 and the Symptom Inventory.17 It was a 27-item
checklist with one open-ended questions. Using a scale
from 1 to 7, the subjects were asked to describe the
frequency with which given symptoms occurred during
the previous week. A total score was calculated by summing
the item scores. Higher scores indicated more severe symptoms. To determine the content validity of the instrument
in this study, the instrument was submitted to three
specialists at a university hospital who were experts in
caring for patients after TKR. The reliability in this study
was assessed by using Cronbach’s alpha and was found
to be 0.70.
Functional status was measured by using the
functional dimension of The Modified Thai WOMAC
(Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis
Index).18 It is composed of 15 items arranged in a numeric
rating scale with the scores ranging from 0 to 10, to elicit
data regarding functional status of knee joints in different
postures. Higher scores reflected lower functional status.
Reliability in this study was assessed by using Cronbach’s
alpha and was found to be 0.87.
Data collection
Human subjects’ approval was obtained from the
Siriraj Institutional Review Board (Si 348/2012). Prior
to the start of data collection, the researcher contacted the
head nurse and other staff nurses of the orthopedics ward
and orthopedics clinic to ask for cooperation in the study.
Patients who met the inclusion criteria were approached
consecutively by the researcher on the day before their
operation and were invited to participate in the study.
Their informed consent was obtained. On the day of the
first follow-up after discharge from the hospital, while
TKR patients were waiting for the physician or when
the physician and nurse completed the routine procedure,
data collection was conducted by using the demographic
and clinical profile questionnaire, recovery symptoms
questionnaire, and functional dimension of The Modified
Thai WOMAC, respectively.
Data analysis
Demographic data and clinical profile were analyzed using descriptive statistics, and Pearson’s product
moment coefficient was employed to determine the relationships among age, BMI, and recovery symptoms, and
functional status in patients after TKR at first follow-up.
RESULTS
As for demographic data of TKR patients (n=88),
most of them were female, were married, had primary
education, and were unemployed with income ranging
Characteristic Frequency Percentage
Gender
Female 74 84.1
Male 14 15.9
Age
51-60 (years) 21 23.9
61-70 (years) 32 36.4
71-80 (years) 35 39.8
(Mean = 67.63, S.D. = 7.59)
Body mass index (BMI)
18.50-24.99 kg/m2
(normal) 22 25
25.00-29.99 kg/m2
(over weight) 44 50
≥ 30 kg/m2
(obesity) 22 25
(Mean = 27.46, S.D = 3.91)
Marital Status
Married 58 65.9
Widowed 20 22.7
Education level
Primary school level 53 60.2
Secondary level 13 14
Bachelor 14 15.9
Occupation
Unemployed 53 60.2
Private business 14 15.9
TABLE 1. Demographic characteristics of TKR patients (n=88).68
from 5,001 to 10,000 baht/month, and had government
reimbursement as shown in Table 1.
More than half of the subjects (51.10%) had
osteoarthritis in their left knee. None had postoperative
complications. Most of the subjects had more than one
chronic condition, with hypertension (53.40%) being most
commonly found, followed by dyslipidemia (36.40%) and
diabetes mellitus (28.4%).
After TKR surgery, the mean length of hospitalization was 4.95 days (S.D. = 0.84). The mean interval
between hospital discharge and the first follow-up examination was 11.19 days (S.D. = 3.26), and the mean interval
between post surgery and first follow-up examination was
16.17 days (S.D. = 3.51).
At the first follow-up after TKR, according to
Table 2, most of the subjects were elderly persons (mean =
67.63 years, S.D. = 7.59). Their BMI was higher than the
normal level, or overweight. The mean scores of recovery
symptoms and functional status were 65 points (S.D. =
14.64) and 110.74 points (S.D. = 11.36), respectively.
When ranking severity of recovery symptoms, the
five leading sym
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