Patient-reported importance of assistive devices in hip and knee replacement Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (ERAS) pathways

Introduction This study examines patients' perceptions of the usefulness of occupational therapy and assistive devices provided, in achieving discharge criteria and assisting with activities of daily living once home, following an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery protocol for total hip and total knee replacement patients. Methods Two weeks following discharge, 197 patients who had undergone total hip replacement or total knee replacement were telephoned to ask how useful they found occupational therapy education and advice and the assistive devices provided. Results 114 patients (58%) answered the call. Over 96% of patients found occupational therapy education and advice useful. Ninety-seven percent of posterior total hip replacement patients were still using the assistive devices 2 weeks following discharge, compared to 90% of anterior total hip replacement patients and 87% of total knee replacement patients. Over 95% of all patients found that assistive devices enhanced their ability to undertake activities of daily living, and were extremely or partly useful in achieving early discharge. Conclusion Over 85% of patients who responded perceived the occupational therapist's advice and education, and assistive devices provided, to be useful in achieving discharge criteria, and in enhancing their ability to undertake activities of daily living once back in a home environment.