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Background: The global increase in total hip or knee arthroplasty has led to concern about the provision of postoperative rehabilitation. Telerehabilitation may be a strategy to meet the patients' requirements for rehabilitation after arthroplasty. This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of a telerehabilitation programme delivered via the mobile application WeChat in patients after total hip or knee arthroplasty on the following outcomes: self-efficacy, physical function, pain, depression, anxiety and health-related quality of life., Methods: This is a single-centre, single-blinded, parallel-group, superiority randomised controlled trial conducted in Shanghai, China. Eighty-four eligible participants who undergo primary total hip or knee arthroplasty will be recruited preoperatively in a university teaching hospital and randomly assigned to the experimental or control group with their informed consent. Once discharged, the control group (n = 42) will receive the usual care provided by the hospital. The experimental group (n = 42) will receive usual care and a 6-week mobile application rehabilitation programme that consists of physical exercises and techniques for enhancing participants' self-efficacy for rehabilitation. Baseline assessments will be conducted on the day before hospital discharge, and outcome assessments will be conducted 6 and 10 weeks postoperatively. The primary outcomes are changes in self-efficacy and physical function 6 weeks postoperatively, and the secondary outcomes include pain, depression, anxiety and health-related quality of life. The approach of a generalised estimating equation will be used to analyse the effect of the intervention on outcomes at a significance level of 0.05., Discussion: This study is the first of its kind conducted in China to incorporate self-efficacy and learning theories as a framework to guide the development of a mobile application rehabilitation programme after arthroplasty. This study will contribute to the knowledge about the effectiveness of mobile application-based rehabilitation among patients after total hip or knee arthroplasty. If the findings are positive, they will support the implementation of mobile application-based rehabilitation in practice, which may potentially increase the accessibility of rehabilitation services as well as patient adherence to rehabilitation., Trial Registration: Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry ACTRN12621000867897 . Retrospectively registered on July 6, 2021., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Total joint arthroplasty is one of the most commonly performed orthopaedic procedures globally. Telerehabilitation has recently been used as a supplement or an alternative to face-to-face rehabilitation services among patients after total joint arthroplasty., Objectives: To synthesise the evidence on the effectiveness of internet-based telerehabilitation regarding pain relief, range of motion, physical function, health-related quality of life, self-efficacy, psychological well-being/problems, and satisfaction among patients after total joint arthroplasty., Methods: An integrative review was conducted using defined search periods, databases, and search terms. This review adopted a five-stage approach: problem identification, literature search, data evaluation, data analysis and presentation. Studies published in English and Chinese were included. The Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool was used to assess the quality of included studies., Results: Twenty-two eligible studies with 1,179 participants were included in this review. Nineteen of them were conducted in North America, Europe and Australia, and three in China. There were 20 quantitative and two qualitative studies. Synchronous mode using videoconferencing (n = 11) was predominant in the studies between 2003 and 2017, while asynchronous mode using mobile apps (n = 7) has become the main mode since 2017. Internet-based telerehabilitation was delivered by physiotherapists in 17 studies and by nurses in three. Most of the included studies reported that, compared to face-to-face rehabilitation, internet-based telerehabilitation showed a comparable improvement in pain relief, range of motion, physical function, and health-related quality of life. Patients had a high satisfaction level. Very few studies addressed the patients' psychological well-being/problems and self-efficacy as the outcome measures., Conclusions: Internet-based telerehabilitation appears to be effective for and accepted by patients after total joint arthroplasty. Telerehabilitation could be delivered by nurses in collaboration with physiotherapists and surgeons as a team. The mobile app is an accessible and flexible delivery medium for telerehabilitation. Robust randomised controlled trials are warranted to enhance the quality of evidence on the effectiveness of mobile app-based telerehabilitation and nurse-delivered program. Qualitative components are suggested to be included in future research. Psychological outcomes should also be measured., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest None., (Copyright © 2020. Published by Elsevier Ltd.)