The effect of pre-postoperative counselling on self-care agency, functional status and pain in patients who underwent total knee replacement

Aim: The purpose of the study was assessment of the effects of pre-post operative counselling on knee replacement patients?self-care, functional, and pain status.Methodology: The study was carried out hospitalized patients with osteoarthritis in an university hospital between February-April 2011 by case control method. The sample of the study consist of 60 patients which included 30 patient each groups.The data was collected with Socio-demographic and Functional Assessment forms, The Exercise of Self-Care Agency Scale and The Brief of Pain Inventory. Only inpatients in case group received an education booklet prepared by the researcher. All patients in case group were interviewed by face to face at the preoperative period in the clinic and post-operatively in the second and sixth week of their discharges in the outpatient clinic by face to face and via telephone.Findings: There was no statistically significant difference between demographic characteristics, health and disease state of case and control group in the statistical evaluations. Results showed that there was a statistically significant increase in self-care care score of patients in the case group who received the counselling (p=0.00). The findings of the functional assessment in the sixth week of post-operative period and those in pre-operative were similar, but these findings didn?t statistically a significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05). Pain score was significantly lower in the case group (p<0.05), and pain management was more effective in case group.This study also shows that counselling increases self-care but doesn?t changes functional situation while it decreases pain score, patients were quite satisfied with receiving counselling. In addition, patients were 4.81 (1-5) average satisfaction rate of counselling.Conclusion: Results showed that counselling was improves recovery period and satisfaction of knee replacement patients.