ABSTRACT
Objective: The study investigated the effect of prehabilitation on the quality of life and function in patients having total knee replacement (TKR)/total hip replacement (THR). Methods: A pilot randomized controlled trial with concealed allocation, assessor blinding, and intention-to-treat analysis was conducted. Sixty-four people undergoing elective lower-limb arthroplasty were included. Prehabilitation included one-hour twice-weekly sessions for at least three and a maximum of four weeks prior to surgery. Control participants did not complete any pre-surgical programs. Health utility and quality of life as measured by the EQ-5D-3L and the patient-specific functional scale were the primary outcomes measured before allocation and eight weeks post-operatively. Results: No between-group differences were evident in health utility (main effect of the group −0.04 (95% Confidence Interval [CI] −0.16 to 0.08, p = 0.50) or patient-specific functional scale (main effect of the group −0.59 (95% CI −1.8 to 0.6, p = 0.73), but the group-by-joint interaction effects for the timed up and go (TUG) (7.6 (95% CI −0.9 to 16.1, p = 0.08)) and the EQ-5D VAS (−18.3 (95% CI −41.1 to 4.5), p = 0.11) were larger. Prehabilitation participants’ knee flexion improved by 12.6 degrees (95% CI 5.2–20, p = 0.001). Conclusions: Prehabilitation improved knee flexion, but this did not translate into improved functional mobility or quality of life.
Declaration of interest
The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of the article.