Age was not related to functional status. This finding
was inconsistent with the findings of previous studies
which have indicated a negative relationship between age
and functional status, with older patients having poorer
functional status. However, there were other studies which
have reported that functional status did not vary with age.
This finding in our study may have been because this study
investigated the mean age of patients. Therefore, further
studies should collect additional data by specifying age
groups. Moreover, the association between age and functional status after TKR requires further studies to clearly
delineate this association.
In this study, BMI was not associated with
functional status, unlike previous studies which reported
that patients with normal or overweight BMI had better
physical functional status at hospital discharge than those
with obese BMI. It has also been documented that BMI is
related to return to normal functional status. However,
there are a number of studies which have reported that
BMI does not have an effect on functional status after
TKR. In this study, it was found that BMI was not
related to functional status after surgery. Thus, further
studies should explore more detail regarding BMI and
functional status.
Recovery symptoms were positively correlated
with functional status. Although there have been no
previous studies investigating the relationships between
recovery symptoms and functional status in Thai TKR
patients after surgery, the findings of this study indicated
that TKR patients who had severe recovery symptoms
also had greater negative functional status.
Findings of this study concurred with previous
studies highlighting that postoperative pain of TKR was
associated with functional status. Pain had a negative impact on ability to work outside the house and do household
chores, and disrupted sleeping and daily living activities.
Furthermore, quadriceps muscle weakness after TKR
also significantly affected functional status and quality
of life.
In addition, previous studies have reported that
anxiety or depression was also related to functional status
and patients with better mood states also had significantly
better functional status.
CONCLUSION
In summary, these findings provided a beginning
explanation of the phenomena of early recovery in a
specific culture of Thai patients post TKR surgery. The
results have revealed that recovery symptoms were related
to functional status. Therefore, nurses and health care
team members should play an important role in assessing
symptoms and their severity in TKR patients and offering
advice on self-care practices at home to both patients and
their caregivers to facilitate their recovery in the early
recovery phase after hospital discharge. Interventions to
improve functional status and relieve recovery symptoms
are also recommended.