Table 1.

Details of those who contributed to the focus groups, interviews and surveys

Study component	Number who participated
Focus groups with health professionals:
• two surgeon focus groups at the 2005 British Orthopaedic Association meeting	16 surgeons
• one regional surgeon focus group	25 surgeons
• plenary discussion at the 2005 British Society of Orthopaedic Anaesthetists meeting	130 anaesthetists
• detailed focus group at the 2005 British Society of Orthopaedic Anaesthetists meeting	8 anaesthetists
• two regional focus groups with anaesthetists	50 anaesthetists
Focus group and interviews with people with osteoarthritis:
• two focus groups with members of the patient organisation Arthritis Care	7 people
• telephone interviews with patients on consultant waiting lists from two UK regional centres	15 people
Interviews with Chairs of UK MRECs:
• telephone interviews with MREC Chairs	6 MREC Chairs
Surveys of health professionals:
• postal survey of all members of the British Association of Surgeons of the Knee	382 surgeons
• postal survey of all members of the British Society of Orthopaedic Anaesthetists	398 anaesthetists

Note: 12 of the 13 UK MRECs which were in existence at the time of the research were invited to take part in the research. (To preserve their independence with regard to any future ethics decisions about KORAL, the MREC that approved this part of the study was excluded from this component)