The Groningen Orthopedic Exit Strategy (GOES): a home-based support program for total hip and knee arthroplasty patients after shortened hospital stay.

The number of total hip and knee arthroplasty patients in The Netherlands will increase progressively in the coming decades. A reaction to this trend is a shortening of hospital stays. This however should not result in uncertainty, lack of information and unnecessary medical consumption by patients at home. Based on insights from social cognitive theory, an exit strategy is described to support patients during their rehabilitation at home. It is our hypothesis that patients who participate in such a support program will be able to resume activities of daily living more quickly and effectively, and will reach higher levels of physical activity compared to patients who only follow the shortened program. To determine the effectiveness of the exit strategy, mediating variables (self-efficacy, social support and pain coping) and outcome variables (activities of daily living, physical activity behavior, health-related quality of life and gait analysis) will be measured