medwireNews: Pain relief, restoration of physical function, and improved quality of life (QoL) are the top three most important outcomes for patients undergoing total joint replacement (TJR), researchers report.
The study included 45 patients who had received total knee or hip replacements between 2016 and 2018 (75% for osteoarthritis) and were interviewed in one of eight groups; the average age of participants was 71.1 years in groups 1–6 (unselected age groups), and 36.8 years in groups 7 and 8 (comprising patients <45 years of age).
When patients were asked what outcome mattered the most to them following TJR, pain relief received the highest number of votes (43.3%), followed by improved function (27.0%), and QoL (17.4%).
Susan Goodman (Hospital for Special Surgery, New York, USA) and co-investigators analyzed these results by age group, finding that pain relief was the most important outcome across ages, but while improved function was the second most important outcome for groups 1–6, QoL was the second most important among the younger participants.
These findings “further support […] the inclusion of measures of these domains in all TJR clinical trials,” conclude Goodman and colleagues in BMC Rheumatology.
medwireNews is an independent medical news service provided by Springer Healthcare. © 2020 Springer Healthcare part of the Springer Nature group