Table 1

Key features from the study by Bardgett and colleagues (13)^*

Objective	To gain insight in patients’ perspectives of the factors influencing return to work following knee replacement.
Setting	A single secondary care setting in a large teaching hospital in northern England.
Methods	Ten semistructured interviews. The interviews were transcribed and analyzed using a qualitative thematic approach.
Results	Three themes identified: delays in surgical intervention, limited and often inconsistent advice from health care professionals regarding return to work, and absence of rehabilitation to optimize recovery and facilitate return to work.
Conclusion	The identified themes all contribute to potential delays in successful return to work. There is a need to tailor health care intervention to this cohort of patients to optimize outcomes.

↵* Similar to the appraisal of the quantitative studies, a specific framework is needed to evaluate a qualitative study. Box 1 outlines a series of questions that can be used to appraise a qualitative article. This framework assesses the quality of the study methods, examines the credibility of the results, and determines the applicability of the study’s conclusions to your patient.