Response to Letter to the Editor on "The Functional Outcomes of Patients With Knee Osteoarthritis Managed Nonoperatively at the Joint Clinic at 5-Year Follow-Up: Does Surgical Avoidance Mean Success?"

Journal of Arthroplasty

Abstract

We agree that our article is observational and we acknowledge our loss to follow-up. We also agree with his comments regarding the varying definitions and ways of measuring success. In our article, we used validated patient-reported outcome measures, general questions on functional outcomes, and patients’ perceptions of need for surgery at 5-year follow-up, but did not ask patients specifically whether they regarded their treatment, either surgical or nonoperative, as a success.

… [see the full letter published in the Journal of Arthroplasty]