What Matters to Patients With Severe Hip or Knee Osteoarthritis?

Osteoarthritis (OA) is the most common joint disease and a major cause of disability worldwide. The condition typically affects the hip or knee, and as the condition progresses it frequently causes debilitating pain and stiffness in the affected joints; thus impairing mobility, and decreasing function and quality of life(QoL). Approximately 10,300 primary hip arthroplasties (THA) and 10,000 primary knee arthroplasties (TKA/UKA) were performed in Denmark in 2021. For the majority of patients with severe osteoarthritis, evidence shows that joint replacement surgery is life-changing. Despite this documented effect, not all patients achieve optimal results. Patient dissatisfaction following THA and TKA has been reported as 7 % and 11-18%, respectively. It is hypothesized that a lack of adequate information and patient involvement in the decision process might lead to the misalignment of patients' expectations and subsequent dissatisfaction. Considerable evidence shows that patients prefer more information and greater involvement. This strongly supports the concept that patients need to be actively involved in treatment decisions. Accordingly, increasing patient involvement in healthcare decisions may be beneficial. Shared decision-making (SDM) supports patients' active involvement in the process and improves the quality of decisions. SDM can be facilitated using a PtDA, which has shown significant benefits in a range of patient groups. However, research on SDM and PtDAs in patients with severe hip or knee OA is lacking. The overall aim of this project is to investigate if an in-consultation PtDA increases the decision quality for patients with severe OA of the hip or knee.