Change in Preoperative Expectations in Patients Undergoing Staged Bilateral Primary Total Knee or Total Hip Arthroplasty

The objective of this study was to compare preoperative expectation scores between stages in patients with bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and total hip arthroplasty (THA) using intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs). For patients with TKA (57), ICC was 0.449, indicating fair agreement between stages; expectations did not change for 31% of patients, whereas 40% had higher and 29% had lower expectations. For patients with THA (55), ICC was 0.663, indicating moderate agreement; expectations did not change for 42% of patients, whereas 38% had higher and 20% had lower expectations. In multivariable analyses controlling for first expectation score, second expectation score was associated with better Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index stiffness score for TKA and with worse Western Ontario McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index function score for patients with THA. For most patients, expectations changed between staged bilateral TKA and THA, but the direction of change was not uniform.