To understand quality of life after knee replacement, researchers must consider the total functional and social burden for patients. This article reports the results of a prospective study to understand patients' subjective perspectives of quality of life during total knee replacement surgery and healing. Data were collected through longitudinal interviews, patients' diaries, and standardized measures of quality of life. The findings include that problems of living undermine older patients' assessments of quality of life. They suggest that the events that bear on healing require a process analysis rather than sequential measurement.
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