Background/Purpose: Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disorder and one of the main causes of pain and disability in adults. The hip is one of the major joints affected by OA. OA of the hip can be observed in 7% to 27% of the population. When patients do not benefit from conservative treatments, Total Hip Replacement (THR) surgery is recommended. THR increases every year (> 50K in Canada in 2017). Providing preoperative education regarding THR decreases patients’ anxiety and improves rehabilitation. So far, preoperative education is mostly developed based on clinicians’ perspectives. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate patients’ perspectives on the quality of current preoperative education and the educational gaps that they face.

Methods: In total, 46 patients with hip OA and 16 of their family caregivers/friends participated in in-person focus groups or telephone interviews. Patients answered questions regarding gaps in, and quality of, the preoperative education they received, the barriers to receiving preoperative education, and their main concerns before THR. Each focus group or interview was transcribed verbatim. The transcriptions were coded and analyzed using NVivo, is a software for analyzing qualitative research. To conduct the analyses and investigate the phenomenon that we were interested in (i.e., preoperative education), as patients and their family members experience it in their daily lives, the eidetic phenomenologic approach was used.

Results: Five themes were identified:1) People learn in different ways: explains different methods participants use to gather information regarding THR, 2) Pre-op was useful but: provides information regarding patients’ opinions on quality of preoperative education, 3) Never got a definitive answer: explains the educational gaps that exist in current preoperative education, 4) The biggest worry: indicates patients’ concerns before THR and 5) Had to struggle to get the information: indicates barriers that patients face in receiving preoperative education.

Conclusion: These findings enhance our knowledge on the current educational gaps that patients experience and the reasons why some patients cannot receive preoperative education. These findings can be used to develop preoperative education that addresses patients’ educational needs and facilitate their access to preoperative education.

Acknowledgment: We would also like to acknowledge Colleen O’Melinn and Halima Elmi for their contributions of recruitment, data collection and data analysis on this study.

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ACR Meeting Abstracts - https://acrabstracts.org/abstract/what-do-patients-with-osteoarthritis-think-of-their-preoperative-education-before-total-hip-replacement-surgeryqualitative-study/