Enhancing Total Knee Arthroplasty Recovery through a Telehealth Physical Activity and Behavior Modification Program: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Telehealth-Enhanced Recovery After Total Knee Arthroplasty
Keywords:
Behavior modification, Functional recovery, Pain management, Telehealth rehabilitation, Total knee arthroplastyAbstract
Background: Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is mainly performed for patients with end-stage knee osteoarthritis (OA), and effective rehabilitation is essential for recovery. Traditional rehabilitation methods can exclude some patients due to access issues, making telehealth a viable alternative. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of telehealth-based rehabilitation in improving functional recovery, reducing pain, ensuring program adherence, and assessing patient satisfaction after TKA.
Methods: This randomized controlled trial (RCT) included, 30 TKA patients that were divided into telehealth-based rehabilitation (n=15) or conventional, in-person rehabilitation groups (n=15). Functional mobility (Timed Up and test), perceived pain levels (Visual Analog Scale), adherence rates, and patient satisfaction were evaluated at baseline and 6 weeks post-operatively. Intention-to-treat analyses were performed for all data.
Results: The findings from this study revealed that patients improved more in functional mobility over time on telehealth compared with standard rehabilitation (mean differences in timed-up and test: 4.2s vs. 2.5s, p<0.05) and also pain reduction (VAS score: 3.1 vs. 1.9, p<0.05). Thus, telehealth showed improved adherence rates (92% vs. 78%) and also proved to show patient satisfaction levels significantly higher (p<0.01).
Conclusion: Telehealth-based rehabilitation with behavior modification presents a feasible and effective alternative for TKA recovery compared to traditional rehabilitation. Functional outcomes, pain management, and patient adherence improve with telehealth rehabilitation, thus making this approach more accessible. Future studies could investigate the long-term outcomes and hybrid rehabilitation designs.
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