The Effects of Total Knee Arthroplasty on Sleep Quality

Introduction: Symptomatic osteoarthritis is one of the most common indications for total knee arthroplasty (TKA) operations. Pain in every stage of the disease causes sleep disturbances in patients. The primary objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of TKA on the quality of sleep in patients with symptomatic osteoarthritis. Materials and Methods: This retrospective, descriptive study was performed on 80 patients diagnosed with symptomatic osteoarthritis who underwent TKA. The patients responded to the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), which is widely used to evaluate sleep quality. Additionally, the effects of demographic and clinical variables such as age, gender, body mass index, smoking and alcohol consumption were also evaluated before and after surgery. Results: There was no correlation between demographic variables and PSQI scores pre- and postoperatively. There was a decrease in sleep quality on the sixth postoperative week compared to the preoperative period however this difference was not statistically significant. On the other hand, there was a statistically significant difference between preoperative and postoperative sixth month PSQI scores. Mean values of overall sleep quality and daily function were significantly higher in the postoperative sixth compared to the preoperative period (p<0.001). Conclusion: Treatment of symptomatic OA with TKA will improve sleep quality in the long term.