How does a physio TKR exercise programme impact patients recovery?
Research type
Research Study
Full title
A Case Study Exploring the Influence of Attending a Physiotherapy-led Total Knee Replacement (TKR) Exercise Programme.
IRAS ID
348526
Contact name
Craig Hendy
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
North West Anglia Foundation Trust- NWAFT
Duration of Study in the UK
1 years, 0 months, 1 days
Research summary
Why- Research Question- How does a physiotherapy-led TKR exercise programme impact patients’ recovery post TKR?
TKR exercise programmes are a common physiotherapy intervention in the United Kingdom (UK) aiming to improve patients’ recovery. A TKR exercise programme commonly consists of five-weekly sessions of physiotherapy-directed rehabilitation (Ditton et al., 2020). Following attendance, patients are discharged to continue their own self-directed rehabilitation, as recovery exceeds the duration of the exercise programme. Self-directed rehabilitation is considered as exercise without the presence of a physiotherapist and contributes to long-term self-care that Riegel et al., (2019) reports is an essential component of recovering from a major operation.
According to Kennedy et al., (2008), the rate of physical improvements reduces after attending the TKR exercise programme, which can lead to additional long-term multi-disciplinary healthcare needs and demand on the NHS. There is an increasing number of TKR’s occurring in the UK per year, highlighting the importance of getting TKR rehabilitation right and physiotherapists are optimally placed to provide an intervention that has both short-term and long-term impact by utilising the TKR exercise programme.
The importance of this timely research is because there is a national back log of patients awaiting TKRs’ and functional life expectancy following TKR is increasing. This research is novel because little is known about what happens after the TKR exercise programme regarding subjective experience of patients who have attended the TKR exercise programme itself and what the impact of attending the TKR exercise programme has on self-directed rehabilitation afterwards. The only way to gain this knowledge is by speaking directly to the patients, something that hasn’t been done with this focus before. Exploring how the TKR exercise programme prepares patients for self-directed rehabilitation will provide valuable information that will lead to improvements in service provisions, optimise short-term physiotherapy, in order to improve long-term benefits and reduce additional long-term healthcare input.What- Exploring the Total Knee Replacement Physiotherapy Exercise Programmes impact upon patients recovery post TKR.
Who- This case study methodology will review all stakeholders involved in the TKR exercise programme and include patient-participants, significant-other participants of whom is deemed appropriate by the patient and physiotherapist-participants who lead the TKR exercise programme.
Any patient who is referred into the TKR exercise programme and meets the inclusion/ exclusion criteria is eligible for this research.
Any physiotherapist who works within the outpatient musculoskeletal physiotherapy department where the TKR exercise programme takes place will be eligible to take part in this research.Where- This research will take place at North West Anglia Foundation Trust (NWAFT), Peterborough City Hospital
How-
Phase One- Patients who consent to the research project will have their outcome measures of pre and post KOOS score reviewed and documented.
Phase two- Following attendance of a six week TKR exercise programme, patients and significant others will be asked to complete a reflective document consisting of measurable and open questions to determine the influence of the programme.
Phase three- Following this they will also be asked to attend a virtual 1:1 interview to further explore their perspectives and experiences of the TKR exercise programme and how this has influenced their recovery/ prepared them for self-directed rehabilitation.
Similarly, physiotherapists working at NWAFT will be eligible to complete a phase two reflective document and phase three 1:1 interview to gain a varied perspective of the TKR exercise programme.
The study per participant will last up to eight weeks following completion of the TKR exercise programme as this will allow time to arrange, complete and transcription of all phases of this research project.REC name
HSC REC B
REC reference
24/NI/0151
Date of REC Opinion
4 Dec 2024
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion