The Patient Advisor Team in Orthopaedic Research (PARTNORS) recently published a prioritized patient-centered research agenda in the Journal of Knee Surgery that includes two patient co-authors—a milestone for our team. PARTNORS is comprised of 12 diverse patients and caregivers who have a shared experience of living with or taking care of someone with complex knee problems.
Guided by the Stakeholder Engagement in Question Development and Prioritization (SEED) Method, these patient partners crafted a shared conceptual model that guided them in formulating and prioritizing research questions. This collaborative effort resulted in a list of 20 research questions exploring the factors that influence a patient’s choice between biological and artificial knee surgeries. The highest prioritized question related to functional level after surgery as it relates to daily activities and recreational activities. The subsequent priority related to insurance implications and financial concerns. Additional areas of focus included caregiver requirements, implant longevity, recovery and rehabilitation time, patient satisfaction and success rates, individual characteristics and risks.
Engaging patients and caregivers in this manner and including them as members of a multidisciplinary research team, lays the groundwork for comparative effectiveness research. This approach emphasizes patient-centered considerations that go beyond standard clinical success indicators for knee surgery, facilitating evidence-based collaborations between doctors and patients.
The PARTNORS program was partially funded through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Eugene Washington PCORI Engagement Award (EACB-22651).
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