Uptake of rehabilitation-at-home following total hip and knee replacement surgery at a private hospital – a randomised controlled trial

Following elective total hip or knee replacement surgery (THR/TKR), receiving care at home instead of hospital is recommended for most patients. However, care at home services such as rehabilitation-at-home are underutilised in private hospitals. Research suggests the primary reason patients spend additional time in private hospitals is driven by patient concerns with safety and value of care at home. To address patient concerns, we have designed new patient information aiming to dispel fears about safety and better inform patients about the benefits of rehabilitation-at-home. The primary aim of our trial is to investigate if new patient information helps more patients to receive rehabilitation-at-home instead of hospital. For patients scheduled for a THR or TKR at a private hospital, we will randomly select 299 patients to receive new patient information before surgery, and another 299 patients who will receive the current information only. Then we can compare the two groups to see if the new information help more patients receive rehabilitation-at-home. We will also measure patient outcomes (e.g., quality of life) and costs between the two groups. We also plan to compare outcomes between participants who receive non-inpatient rehabilitation (i.e., rehabilitation-at-home or outpatient rehabilitation) versus inpatient rehabilitation care. Alongside the trial, we will also conduct interviews with a subset of participants who received the new patient information, to explore their perspectives on the intervention based on their experiences.