Return to driving after total hip and knee arthroplasty–the perspective of employed patients

Nouri, F.; Coole, C.; Baker, P.; Drummond, A.

Abstract

Purpose: To address the paucity of research on patient perspectives regarding return to driving after Total Hip and Total Knee arthroplasty (THA; TKA), and how this impacts on return-to-work. Materials and Methods: Employed participants, who had undergone THA or TKA, took part in semi-structured telephone interviews. They were asked about support received regarding driving, who provided this information, and the impact of this on their return to driving and consequently work. Results: Thirty-eight people were interviewed. Although sources of information and advice were available, patients struggled to know who to approach. Interviewees reported variations and contradictions in the advice given on when they could safely return to driving after surgery. Of note, there was little difference in the advice given to those who had undergone THA compared to TKA. Many participants devised their own plan for returning to driving Conclusions: There is inconsistency in driving advice provided after THA and TKA. Consequently, patients make their own decisions about how and when to drive, and develop strategies to accelerate the process. Greater clarity is required from healthcare professionals on time frames for driving post-surgery and for advising patients on their responsibilities around informing the DVLA and insurance companies of their surgery.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Healthcare professionals should be aware of medico-legal requirements when advising patients about their legal responsibilities regarding driving after joint arthroplasty. Given the pivotal role of driving in the resumption of work after joint arthroplasty, there needs to be greater importance placed on the provision of explicit advice and support on driving for those undergoing orthopaedic surgery. As driving is a complex skill, the advice given to patients should be individualised. Factors to be considered should be the type of vehicle driven e.g., automatic/manual transmission; height of the vehicle from the ground; the side of the surgery; any medication prescribed which might impact on driving, and consideration of any comorbidities.

Citation

Nouri, F., Coole, C., Baker, P., & Drummond, A. (2022). Return to driving after total hip and knee arthroplasty–the perspective of employed patients. Disability and Rehabilitation, 44(25), 7811-7817. https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2021.1998670

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 22, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Nov 9, 2021
• Publication Date: 2022
• Deposit Date: Oct 28, 2021
• Publicly Available Date: Nov 10, 2022
• Journal: Disability and Rehabilitation
• Print ISSN: 0963-8288
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-5165
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 44
• Issue: 25
• Pages: 7811-7817
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/09638288.2021.1998670
• Keywords: Rehabilitation
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/6542362
• Publisher URL: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09638288.2021.1998670
• Additional Information: This is an Accepted Manuscript version of the following article, accepted for publication in Disability and Rehabilitation: Return to driving after total hip and knee arthroplasty – the perspective of employed patients. It is deposited under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.