Objective To construct an exercise prehabilitation program based on patient navigation for patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty (TKA) and evaluate its preliminary application effect, aiming to provide a reference for the exercise prehabilitation practice of this group. Methods An initial exercise prehabilitation program based on patient navigation for patients undergoing TKA was formulated after literature review and research group meetings, which were improved through two rounds of Delphi expert consultation to form a final program.Thirty patients scheduled for TKA were divided into a control group and an experimental group chronologically, with 15 patients in each group.Before surgery, the control group implemented an autonomous exercise prehabilitation program, while the experimental group implemented the exercise prehabilitation program based on patient navigation. Results The final program included 2 first-level items, 9 second-level items, and 28 third-level items.All 15 patients in the experimental group and 14 patients in the control group completed the study.After the intervention and 4 weeks after surgery, the expe-rimental group showed significantly higher scores in compliance with functional exercise and self-efficacy for rehabilitation than the control group, while its knee osteoarthritis index was significantly lower than the control group.Furthermore, the knee joint function and range of motion of the experimental group at 4 weeks after surgery were significantly higher than those in the control group （all P＜0.05）. Conclusion The exercise prehabilitation program based on patient navigation for patients undergoing TKA is scientific, applicable and safe to some extent, and implementation of the program is conducive to improving patients′ exercise compliance and postoperative joint function.