Taylor and Francis Group, Expert Review of Medical Devices, 4(11), p. 403-415, 2014
DOI: 10.1586/17434440.2014.916208
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Improvements in implant materials and designs have broadened surgical indications and improved the technical successes of joint arthroplasty surgery. Nevertheless, a small but notable proportion of patients remain dissatisfied despite technically successful surgery. Given reported associations between unfulfilled patient expectations and dissatisfaction, we performed a systematic review to investigate the current state of knowledge concerning potential associations between clinical status and patient expectations of joint arthroplasty procedures. A wide range of expectation assessment instruments was identified, some of which assessed probabilistic expectations and other value-based expectations. Consistent associations were identified between probabilistic expectations of surgery and better pre-operative disease-specific and general health status, as well as more desirable post-operative disease specific scores. In contrast, no consistent associations were identified between clinical status and value-based expectations. Fulfillment of expectations was consistently associated with superior disease-specific and general health absolute and change scores, irrespective of the expectations paradigm used.