A Comparison of Patient-Reported and Measured Range of Motion in a Cohort of Total Knee Replacement Patients

• Published in: The Journal of arthroplasty Vol. 29; no. 7; pp. 1378 - 1382.e1
• Main Authors: Collins, Jamie E, Rome, Benjamin N, Daigle, Meghan E, Lerner, Vladislav, Katz, Jeffrey N, Losina, Elena
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 26-02-2014
• ISSN: 0883-5403; 1532-8406
• DOI: 10.1016/j.arth.2014.02.023

Range of motion (ROM) is an important component of the assessment of total knee replacement (TKR) outcome. We compared patient-reported versus clinically observed ROM in a prospective cohort. Clinically observed ROM was measured using a goniometer by a trained research assistant. Self-reported ROM was estimated using a set of lateral knee photographs depicting varying levels of flexion and extension. All measures were taken pre-operatively, three, and six months postoperatively. We found statistically significant associations between self-reported ROM and clinically observed ROM for flexion and extension (all P<0.001). We dichotomized flexion at 90 degrees and found that self-report had a specificity of 94% and sensitivity of 65%. We conclude that patient-reported ROM may be a useful outcome measure for TKR.