Occupational Therapy Using Coping Lists After Total Knee Arthroplasty: A Case Series

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) can improve the postoperative quality of life in patients with severe knee osteoarthritis. Although occupational therapy (OT) using a coping list may be useful for post-TKA patients, its use has not been documented. This study aimed to explore the effectiveness of OT using coping skills. Five post-TKA patients underwent OT using coping skills. The Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM), numerical rating scale (NRS), Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), EQ-5D (EuroQol-5-dimension)-5-level (5L), EQ-5D Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), modified fall efficacy scale (MFES), Pain Disability Assessment Scale (PDAS), and coping skills were measured at the start and end of the study. Significant improvements were observed in COPM, NRS, HADS, EQ-5D-5L, and PDAS scores (p <0.05). No significant improvements were found in the EQ-5D VAS and MFES scores. All evaluations showed a large effect size (r ≤ 0.5). The total number of coping skills also increased. This report suggests that OT with coping strategies is effective for pain, psychological factors, quality of life, and activities of daily living. Incorporating coping skills in OT may be useful in postoperative TKA pain management. However, larger studies are needed to validate this.