Background/objectives: Total knee arthroplasty is one of the most commonly performed orthopedic procedures of the lower extremities, primarily for patients with osteoarthritis or rheumatoid arthritis. Despite its widespread use, evidence remains limited regarding the association between patient satisfaction, kinesiophobia, and pain during the early postoperative period. The purpose of the present study was to examine the relationships and differences among satisfaction, kinesiophobia, and pain in hospitalized patients following total knee arthroplasty, as well as to compare these variables across four postoperative time points. Methods: A total of 41 patients, aged 65–85 years, participated in this study. Patient satisfaction was assessed using a structured satisfaction questionnaire, kinesiophobia was assessed using the Greek version of Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia, and pain was assessed using the Visual Analogue Scale. Measurements were obtained on the first postoperative day, on the day of hospital discharge, fifteen days after discharge, and four weeks after discharge. Normality was assessed using the Shapiro–Wilk test, indicating non-normally distributed data. The relationship between the variables were examined using Spearman’s correlation coefficient. Comparisons between the four postoperative time points were conducted using the Friedman test with Kendall’s W for effect size estimation, followed by Wilcoxon post hoc analyses with Bonferroni corrections. Results: The results showed that a significant negative correlation between satisfaction and kinesiophobia was observed at the fourth phase (r = −0.41, p = 0.04). Satisfaction was also negatively correlated with pain from the third to the fourth phase (r = −0.41, p = 0.008), whereas kinesiophobia demonstrated a significant positive correlation with pain from the second to the fourth phase (r = 0.47–0.56, p = 0.002). Friedman test comparisons revealed a significant increase in satisfaction over time (χ2 (3) = 13.88, p = 0.003), a significant progressive decrease in kinesiophobia with a moderate effect size (χ2 (3) = 76.40, p < 0.001; Kendall’s W = 0.62), and a significant progressive reduction in pain with a large effect size (χ2 (3) = 89.60, p < 0.001; Kendall’s W = 0.73). Conclusions: These findings indicate that satisfaction, kinesiophobia, and pain are significantly interrelated during the early postoperative period following total knee arthroplasty. Further studies with larger samples and longer follow-up periods are required to confirm these associations and support the development of targeted rehabilitation strategies.
Christakou et al. (Tue,) studied this question.