The effects of patients' expectations on surgery outcome in total hip and knee arthroplasty: a prognostic factor meta-analysis.

Patients' expectations are among the most frequently studied psychological prognostic factors in total knee and hip arthroplasty (TKA/THA). So far, however, evidence on the effect of patients' preoperative expectations on surgery outcome is inconclusive. Heterogeneity of expectation constructs and the use of psychometrically not evaluated measurement instruments have constituted major obstacles for the integration of the current literature. Using a theory-based model of expectation constructs , this meta-analysis set out to disentangle the conflicting results in the current literature. Systematic literature searches yielded