A “Journey to regain life” after joint replacement surgery: A qualitative descriptive study

Background: Prolonged preoperative waiting times from six months to two years for joint replacement surgery are detrimental to patients' quality of life due to increasing physical dysfunction, pain, joint stiffness, worsening mental health, and limited independence in daily life. Aim: This study explored the perceptions of elderly patients undergoing joint replacement surgery. Method: A qualitative descriptive design guided by the social cognitive theory was used to conduct repeated semi-structured interviews with 14 elderly participants at a local acute tertiary hospital in Singapore. Findings: Three themes emerged from the data: (1) beginning of pain, (2) finding a solution, and (3) recovering from old body. Conclusions: While considering the cultural beliefs of the participants, the study highlighted the elderly participants' journey to regain life by sharing their experiences during the pre-operative, intra-operative and postoperative periods. In each of these phases, the triadic determinants of the social cognitive theory highlighted the importance of the interplay between the environment, person and behaviour.