Journal of Joint Surgery and Research · Published 2026-04-01 · DOI 10.1016/j.jjoisr.2026.03.001
Background: Outcomes after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) are commonly assessed using patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs). How these measures align with objective performance-based outcomes remains uncertain. This study evaluated the longitudinal association between multiple PROM domains and the Timed Up & Go (TUG) test. Methods: Seventy-one patients aged ≥65 years who underwent unilateral TKA were assessed using the 2011 Knee Society Score [symptoms (SYM), patient satisfaction (PS), and functional activity (FA)], the Forgotten Joint Score-12 (FJS-12), the 25-questin Geriatric Locomotive Function Scale (GLFS-25), and the TUG test before surgery and at 6 months, 1 year, and 3 years post-operatively. Changes over time and correlations between PROMs and TUG were analyzed with repeated measures analysis of variance and simple linear regression analysis. Results: All scores significantly improved at 6 months post-TKA, with no significant changes thereafter. FA and GLFS-25 showed low to moderate correlations with TUG across time points (FA: r = −0.42, −0.57, −0.55, −0.62; GLFS-25: r = 0.42, 0.51, 0.53, 0.56). SYM, PS, and FJS-12 demonstrated weaker or non-significant correlations (SYM, before: r = −0.26; PS, before: r = −0.37; 1 year: r = −0.24; FJS-12, 6 months: r = −0.31; 3 years: r = −0.28). Both FA and GLFS-25 demonstrated significantly stronger correlations with the TUG test than SYM, PS, and FJS-12. Conclusions: FA and GLFS-25 demonstrated a relatively stronger correlation with the TUG test. However, overall correlations between TUG and PROMs were low to moderate. Self-reported measures did not necessarily align with recovery of lower limb function, indicating that combining PROMs with the TUG test may provide a more comprehensive assessment after TKA.
Abstract from DOAJ. Public domain (CC0 1.0).
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