ArticleBone & joint open2021
What can we learn from the experiences and expectations of patients on growing waiting lists for planned care in the COVID-19 pandemic?
Article in Bone & joint open, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 15 citations in OpenAlex.
- 'Waiting poorly' for hip and knee arthroplasty - unmet needs and lack of support while waiting for surgery : findings of the multicentre WAIT-DATA study.Bone & joint open · 2026Article
- Regulatory compliance of mental healthcare professionals: determinants of reporting waiting time data.BMC health services research · 2026Article
- Do lifestyle factors affect clinical outcomes following total knee replacement? An integrated qualitative study exploring the perceptions and experiences of participants in the PRO Knee feasibility cohort study.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2026Article
- 'Before and After'. The Journey of Patients With Low Back Pain Consulting in Elective Spine Surgery Clinics. A Qualitative Study Protocol.Health expectations : an international journal of public participation in health care and health policy · 2025Article
- Wait-times benchmarks for risk-based prioritization in transcatheter aortic valve implantation: a simulation study.European heart journal. Quality of care & clinical outcomes · 2025Article
- Article
- Improving the 'Golden Patient' Initiative at a British Major Trauma Centre: A Single-Centre Study.Cureus · 2024Article
- The impact of deprivation on patients awaiting planned care.Bone & joint open · 2022Article
- The Oxford Knee Score is a reliable predictor of patients in a health state worse than death and awaiting total knee arthroplasty.Arthroplasty (London, England) · 2022Article
- The health-related quality of life of patients with musculoskeletal disorders after the COVID-19 pandemic.International orthopaedics · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsCOVID-19 has compounded a growing waiting list problem, with over 4.5 million patients now waiting for planned elective care in the UK. Views of patients on waiting lists are rarely considered in prioritization. Our primary aim was to understand how to support patients on waiting lists by hearing their experiences, concerns, and expectations. The secondary aim was to capture objective change in disability and coping mechanisms.
methodsA minimum representative sample of 824 patients was required for quantitative analysis to provide a 3% margin of error. Sampling was stratified by body region (upper/lower limb, spine) and duration on the waiting list. Questionnaires were sent to a random sample of elective orthopaedic waiting list patients with their planned intervention paused due to COVID-19. Analyzed parameters included baseline health, change in physical/mental health status, challenges and coping strategies, preferences/concerns regarding treatment, and objective quality of life (EuroQol five-dimension questionnaire (EQ-5D), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 2-item scale (GAD-2)). Qualitative analysis was performed via the Normalization Process Theory.
resultsA total of 888 patients responded. Better health, pain, and mood scores were reported by upper limb patients. The longest waiters reported better health but poorer mood and anxiety scores. Overall, 82% had tried self-help measures to ease symptoms; 94% wished to proceed with their intervention; and 21% were prepared to tolerate deferral. Qualitative analysis highlighted the overall patient mood to be represented by the terms 'understandable', 'frustrated', 'pain', 'disappointed', and 'not happy/depressed'. COVID-19-mandated health and safety measures and technology solutions were felt to be implemented well. However, patients struggled with access to doctors and pain management, quality of life (physical and psychosocial) deterioration, and delay updates.
conclusionThis is the largest study to hear the views of this 'hidden' cohort. Our findings are widely relevant to ensure provision of better ongoing support and communication, mostly within the constraints of current resources. In response, we developed a reproducible local action plan to address highlighted issues. Cite this article:
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.