Gamification in Knee Replacement Rehabilitation

After total knee arthroplasty (TKA), knee is usually swollen, painful, and stiff. The main goal of post-operative physical rehabilitation is to achieve full extension and flexion of the knee to avoid contractures and stiffness. Also strengthening of quadriceps muscle and balance to help activities of daily living and overall mobility are important. The post-operative knee replacement rehabilitation includes the standard protocol in hospital phase and the standard home exercise instructions. Computer based exercising games (exergames) may be new method to increase training adherence and volume after TKA and thus improve results and effectiveness of the rehabilitation. However, evidence of effectiveness of rehabilitative exergaming on physical functioning is sparse and more research is needed to conduct evidence-based rehabilitation practices.

Therefore the present study examines the effectiveness of a 16-week gamified physiotherapy on physical functioning, life satisfaction and pain for patients after TKA compared to treatment as usual home exercise. The second objective is to validate the psychometric properties of WHODAS 2.0 (WHO Disability Assessment Schedule) and brief ICF (International classification of functioning, disability and health) core set of osteoarthritis questionnaire. Other objectives are to find out, what kind of understanding and experiences the participants have about the rehabilitation with exergames and to evaluate the usability and user experience of exergames.