The role of health literacy in orthopaedic rehabilitation after total knee and hip arthroplasty: A scoping review

Background Health literacy (HL) is a key aspect in empowering patient education as part of orthopaedic rehabilitation after total knee or hip arthroplasty (TKA/THA). Objectives This scoping review aims to demonstrate the prevalence of patient-related outcome measures in studies on the effectiveness of orthopaedic rehabilitation of older people after TKA/THA. The review also focuses on the identification of outcome measures that assess patients’ HL or HL-related aspects. Methods A scoping literature search was conducted using the JBI methodology for scoping reviews. The databases MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL Complete, The Cochrane Library, Academic Search Elite, and ERIC were searched with keywords and phrases to find relevant literature. Identified outcome measures were conceptually analysed in a peer reviewed procedure. Those with suspected HL-related content were analysed at item level. Text analyses were performed using MAXQDA. Results 117 papers were included in this review. 45 patient-related outcome measures could be found, 2 of which assess HL-related aspects. No paper could be found that assessed patients’ HL in orthopaedic rehabilitation after TKA/THA. Conclusions HL has hitherto been of limited importance in orthopaedic rehabilitation. Health professionals are responsible for assessing patients’ health literacy and developing appropriate strategies for patient education in the context of orthopaedic rehabilitation.