Objective To explore the effects of periodic assessment based on the forgetting curve in health education of patients undergoing rotator cuff repair. Methods One hundred and twenty patients who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair in a tertiary hospital in Nanjing from June 2019 to July 2020 were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group,with 60 cases in each group. The patients in the control group received routine care. Patients in the experimental group received a periodic assessment based on the forgetting curve besides routine care and re-education based on assessment results. The shoulder joint range of motion and Constant-Murley score were compared between the two groups 1 day before surgery,2 weeks and 3 months after surgery. The test score of patients in the experimental group was compared at 20 min,the day of surgery and 1 d,5 d,2 weeks,1 month and 3 months after surgery. Results There was an interaction effect of the shoulder range of motion between groups and time：the forward bending angle（F_interaction=18.044,P<0.001）,the abduction angle（F_interaction=14.855,P<0.001）,and the neutral position of external rotation angle（F_interaction=45.280,P<0.001）. The simple effect analysis showed that after 2 weeks and 3 months of the surgery,the shoulder range of motion in the experimental group was greater than that in the control group,so was the forward bending angle（t=2.232,31.950,P<0.05）,the abduction angle（t=32.950,31.260,P<0.05）,the neutral position of external rotation angle（t=8.387,12.488,P<0.05）. The Constant-Murley score had an interaction effect between groups and time（F_interaction=117.000,P<0.001）. A simple effect analysis showed that after 2 weeks and 3 months of surgery,the score of the experimental group was higher than that of the control group（t=11.547,11.123,P<0.001）. There are significant differences in the assessment scores of the experimental group at each stage（F=100.043,P<0.05）,and the overall scores show an upward trend. Conclusion The health education method based on the forgetting curve theory is feasible. It helps to strengthen patient’s rehabilitation knowledge,improve the effects of health education,thereby improving health outcomes of patients after operation. The study provides a new way for clinical health education.