Characteristics of Usual Physical Therapy Post-Total Knee Replacement and their Associations with Functional Outcomes

OBJECTIVE: Although total knee replacement surgery (TKR) is highly prevalent and generally successful, functional outcomes post-TKR vary widely. Most patients receive some physical therapy (PT) following TKR, but PT practice is variable and associations between specific content and dosage of PT interventions and functional outcomes are unknown. Research has identified exercise interventions associated with better outcomes but studies have not assessed whether such evidence has been translated into clinical practice. We characterized the content, dosage and progression of usual post-acute PT services following TKR, and examined associations of specific details of post-acute PT with patients\u27 6-month functional outcomes. METHODS: Post-acute PT data were collected from patients undergoing primary unilateral TKR and participating in a clinical trial of a phone-based coaching intervention. PT records from the terminal episode of care were reviewed and utilization and exercise content data were extracted. Descriptive statistics and linear regression models characterized PT treatment factors and identified associations with 6-month outcomes. RESULTS: We analyzed 112 records from 30 PT sites. Content and dosage of specific exercises and incidence of progression varied widely. Open chain exercises were utilized more frequently than closed chain (median and interquartile range (21(4,49) vs 13(4,28.5)). Median (interquartile range) occurrence of progression of closed and open chain exercise was 0 (0,2) and 1 (0,3) respectively. Shorter timed stair climb was associated with greater total number of PT interventions and use and progression of closed chain exercises. DISCUSSION: Data suggest that evidence-based interventions are under-utilized and dosage may be insufficient to obtain optimal outcomes

A randomized clinical trial of a peri-operative behavioral intervention to improve physical activity adherence and functional outcomes following total knee replacement

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Total knee replacement (TKR) is a common and effective surgical procedure to relieve advanced knee arthritis that persists despite comprehensive medical treatment. Although TKR has excellent technical outcomes, significant variation in patient-reported functional improvement post-TKR exists. Evidence suggests that consistent post-TKR exercise and physical activity is associated with functional gain, and that this relationship is influenced by emotional health. The increasing use of TKR in the aging US population makes it critical to find strategies that maximize functional outcomes.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This randomized clinical trial (RCT) will test the efficacy of a theory-based telephone-delivered Patient Self-Management Support intervention that seeks to enhance adherence to independent exercise and activity among post- TKR patients. The intervention consists of 12 sessions, which begin prior to surgery and continue for approximately 9 weeks post-TKR. The intervention condition will be compared to a usual care control condition using a randomized design and a probabilistic sample of men and women. Assessments are conducted at baseline, eight weeks, and six- and twelve- months. The project is being conducted at a large healthcare system in Massachusetts. The study was designed to provide greater than 80% power for detecting a difference of 4 points in physical function (SF36/Physical Component Score) between conditions (standard deviation of 10) at six months with secondary outcomes collected at one year, assuming a loss to follow up rate of no more than 15%.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>As TKR use expands, it is important to develop methods to identify patients at risk for sub-optimal functional outcome and to effectively intervene with the goal of optimizing functional outcomes. If shown efficacious, this peri-TKR intervention has the potential to change the paradigm for successful post-TKR care. We hypothesize that Patient Self-Management Support to enhance adherence to independent activity and exercise will enhance uniform, optimal improvement in post-TKR function and patient autonomy, the ultimate goals of TKR.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00566826">NCT00566826</a></p

Kinesiology : the mechanics dan pathomechanics of human movement, 2nd ed./ Oatis

ix, 946.: ill.; 35 cm

Kinesiology : the mechanics dan pathomechanics of human movement, 2nd ed./ Oatis

ix, 946.: ill.; 35 cm

Generating consistent longitudinal real‐world data to support research: lessons from physical therapists

Research Funding Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. Grant Number: 75Q80120D00001/Task Order 2 National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases. Grant Number: 7R01AR071048-03Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Tailored system to deliver behavioral intervention and manage data in randomized trials

BACKGROUND: The integrity of behavioral intervention trials depends on consistent intervention delivery, and uniform, comprehensive process data collection. It can be challenging in practice due to complex human interactions involved. OBJECTIVE: We sought to design a system to support the fidelity of intervention delivery and efficient capture of qualitative and quantitative process data for a telephone-delivered behavioral counseling intervention to increase physical activity and function after total knee replacement surgery. METHODS: A tailored system was designed to prompt the intervention coach in the delivery of a 5 step counseling protocol to support intervention fidelity across patients. System features included structured data components, automated data exchange functions, user-friendly data capture screens, and real-time surveillance reporting. The system structured the capture of patient goals and open-ended conversation. RESULTS: The system recorded intervention process data from each of 12 sessions held with the 92 intervention patients. During the trial, 992 telephone sessions were conducted, and more than 97% (4816/4960) of intervention process data fields were completed in the system. The coach spent 5-10 minutes preparing for each counseling call using system-generated summaries of historical data and 10-15 minutes entering intervention process data following each telephone session. CONCLUSIONS: This intervention delivery system successfully supported the delivery of a structured behavioral counseling intervention and collection of intervention process data. It addressed the unique needs of clinical behavioral intervention trials, and had promising potential to facilitate high-fidelity translation of the intervention to broad clinical practice and Web-based multicenter clinical trials in the future

Web-Based System to Capture Consistent and Complete Real-world Data of Physical Therapy Interventions Following Total Knee Replacement: Design and Evaluation Study

BackgroundElectronic health records (EHRs) have the potential to facilitate consistent clinical data capture to support excellence in patient care, quality improvement, and knowledge generation. Despite widespread EHR use, the vision to transform health care system and its data to a "learning health care system" generating knowledge from real-world data is limited by the lack of consistent, structured clinical data. ObjectiveThe purpose of this paper was to demonstrate the design of a web-based structured clinical intervention data capture system and its evaluation in practice. The use case was ambulatory physical therapy (PT) treatment after total knee replacement (TKR), one of the most common and costly procedures today. MethodsTo identify the PT intervention type and intensity (or dose) used to treat patients with knee arthritis following TKR, an iterative user-centered design process refined an initial list of PT interventions generated during preliminary chart reviews. Input from practicing physical therapists and national and international experts refined and categorized the interventions. Next, a web-based, hierarchical structured system for intervention and intensity documentation was designed and deployed. ResultsThe PT documentation system was implemented by 114 physical therapists agreeing to record all interventions at patient visits. Data for 161 patients with 2615 PT visits were entered by 83 physical therapists. No technical problems with data entry were reported, and data entry required less than 2 minutes per visit. A total of 42 (2%) interventions could not be categorized and were recorded using free text. ConclusionsThe use of user-centered design principles provides a road map for developing clinically feasible data capture systems that employ structured collection of uniform data for use by multiple practitioners across institutions to complement and augment existing EHRs. Secondarily, these data can be analyzed to define best practices and disseminate knowledge to practice