Race and Preference for Knee Replacement: A Patient-Centered Intervention

A randomized, controlled design will be utilized to examine and compare the effectiveness of the proposed educational intervention, which includes a combination of an educational decision aid and motivational interviewing with attention control on select key patient-centered and process of care outcomes. The study sample will consist of approximately 450 African-American patients with osteoarthritis of the knee. Patients will be recruited from the University of Pennsylvania Health System and the Philadelphia VA Medical Center and will be randomized to one of the two study arms. The immediate goal of this randomized controlled trial is to assess the effect of a high-quality, evidence-based, patient-centered educational intervention supplemented with targeted counseling (motivational interviewing) on African American patient preferences, expectations, and the likelihood of achieving a referral for surgical evaluation. The long-term goal of this research is to widely implement a patient-centered educational intervention targeting African Americans who are potential candidates for joint replacement, in a national effort to reduce and ultimately eliminate racial disparities in the utilization of this effective treatment option. Study Aim:To examine the effect of the knee osteoarthritis Decision Aid (DA)/Motivational Interviewing (MI) intervention on orthopedic surgery referral rates for African American (AA) patients. Hypothesis: Compared to attention control, the DA/MI intervention will lead to higher orthopedic surgery referral rates for AA patients. Secondary aim: To examine the effect of the DA/MI intervention on the rate of knee replacement receipt among AA patients. Hypothesis: AA patients randomized to receive the intervention will have higher rates of knee replacement compared to those in the attention control group.