[Effects of a Hybrid Health Education Program on Pain and Knee Angle in Elderly Patients After Total Knee Replacement Surgery].

Background: Patients experience pain and limited knee angle after total knee replacement (TKR) surgery. The effectiveness of routine discharge health education remains limited.

Purpose: This study was designed to assess the effect of hybrid health education on postoperative pain and knee angle in patients with TKR.

Methods: A single blind and randomized controlled trial study was used. Fifty-two patients with TKR were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n = 26), which received standard care with hybrid health education and performed the multimedia-guided intervention for 30 min per day for 16 weeks, or the control group (n = 26), which received routine care only. The data collection times were at pretest (preoperative) and at the 1st week, 6th week, 12th week, 16th week after surgery.

Results: A total of 22 patients in the experimental group and 26 patients in the control group completed this study. After the 16-week hybrid health education intervention, the results of generalized estimating equations analysis showed that pain in the experimental and control groups differed significantly at week 12 (β = -1.43, p = .025) and week 16 (β = -1.52, p = .014); worst pain in the past week had significantly improved at week 12 (β = -1.40, p = .041) and week 16 (β = -1.55, p = .024); average pain over the past 1 week had significantly improved at week 16 (β = -1.24, p = .035); and knee extension angle had significantly improved at week 16 (β = -5.52, p = .033).

Conclusions / implications for practice: The results of this study showed that elderly patients who received hybrid health education after TKR had significantly improved postoperative pain and knee angle and that degree of improvement in the experimental group was better than in the control group. It is recommended that the content and methods of hybrid health education developed in this study be incorporated into discharge interventions and that long-term outcomes be tracked for reference.