Patients’ perceived walking abilities, daily-life gait behavior and gait quality before and 3 months after total knee arthroplasty

• Published in: Archives of orthopaedic and trauma surgery 2022-06, Vol.142 (6), p.1189-1196
• Main Authors: Fransen, Bas L., Pijnappels, Mirjam, Butter, Ise K., Burger, B. J., van Dieën, J. H., Hoozemans, M. J. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee - methods; Gait; Humans; Joint replacement surgery; Joint surgery; Knee Arthroplasty; Knee Joint - surgery; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Orthopedics; Osteoarthritis, Knee - surgery; Patients; Surveys and Questionnaires; Walking
• ISSN: 1434-3916; 0936-8051; 1434-3916
• DOI: 10.1007/s00402-021-03915-y

Introduction Functional outcome and patients’ daily-life activities after total knee arthroplasty are becoming more important with a younger and more active patient population. In addition to patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), trunk-based accelerometry has shown to be a promising method for evaluating gait function after total knee arthroplasty. The aim of this study was to evaluate daily-life perceived walking abilities, gait behavior and gait quality before and 3 months after total knee arthroplasty, using PROMs and trunk-based accelerometry. Materials and methods A cohort of 38 patients completed questionnaires including the Oxford Knee Score and modified Gait Efficacy Scale before and 3 months after primary unilateral total knee arthroplasty. At both time points, they wore a tri-axial accelerometer at the lower back for seven consecutive days and nights. Gait behavior was calculated using gait quantity and walking speed, and multiple gait quality parameters were calculated. Results Significant improvements were seen after 3 months in the Oxford Knee Score [median (interquartile range) 29 (10) vs 39 (8), p