Surprisingly, the study found the physical demands of work with a patient has had a minor role in their return to work, especially for patients who were able to change their professional responsibilities to compensate for the knee surgery. Although patients with greater physical effort it took longer to return to work, the effect was modest, the study said. Personal financial situation and social motivations, also does not seem to affect the speed with which the patient returned to work.Since the motivation seems to play an important role in the decision of a patient to return to work, the study authors recommended that doctors take into account factors when counseling patients before surgery and knee recovery.

Having a stable preoperative emotional. The authors noted that all these factors were similar to factors in the previous literature to be associated with return to work after other procedures or orthopedic injuries.

In addition to personal reasons, other factors that provide a return to earlier work included:

According to the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS), approximately 581,000 total knee replacement are performed each year in the U.S., and experts say the number should increase substantially with the aging of the population. Results of the study:

The reasoning may be the most important factor in determining the time it takes for a patient to return to work after a total knee replacement, a new study published in the Journal of Bone and Surgery (JBJS joint).

“Research has shown, the motivation of an individual at work is a complex interaction between the personality traits, personal needs, values ​​and feelings about the importance of work and the commitment of his work,” he said.

“Although the physical demands of work, a patient may have some influence on their ability to return to work after a primary total knee replacement, patient characteristics, including the motivation to play a greater role,” said the author of Study Joseph F. Styron, Ph.D., of Case Western Reserve University.

According to the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services, is the leading cause of disability in Americans of working age, and total knee replacement or total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is commonly used to help treat advanced forms of arthritis of the knee.

The authors enrolled 162 patients who were scheduled for TKA, and asked to complete questionnaires assessing their physical condition, ability to perform the responsibilities, the physical demands of work and other characteristics of the environment, as well as questions about their motivation and the desire to return to work. The study was designed to examine the two scenarios and part-time full-time job, and also included patients who were self-employed.

The median time to return to work for these patients in this study was 8.9 weeks.