Long-term improvement seen with hip r...( Total hip arthroplasty (THA) or hip ...),Health

Total hip arthroplasty (THA), or hip replacement, is an effective treatment for osteoarthritis (OA), but most studies have only followed patients for up to one year. A new study published in the December issue of Arthritis Care & Research (http://www.interscience.wiley.com/journal/arthritiscare) examined patients after an average of eight years following hip replacement and found a long-term positive impact on their physical functioning.

Led by Professor Cyrus Cooper and Ms. Janet Cushnaghan of the University of Southampton in Southampton, UK, the study included 282 patients from two English health districts who had OA and were placed on the waiting list for a hip replacement between 1993 and 1995. It also included 295 matched controls from the general population. At the start of the study patients were interviewed about hip injury, pain, physical function, vitality and mental health. In addition, their BMI was calculated, their hands were examined for Heberdens nodes, an indication of OA, and their hip X-rays were evaluated for severity of OA. Between 2001 and 2004, they completed a self-administered questionnaire asking if and when they had undergone hip replacement, as well as questions about their physical function, vitality and mental health. Follow-up of the patients took place an average of eight years following hip replacement.

The results showed that patients who were waiting for a hip replacement had markedly worse physical functioning than the controls but only small differences in vitality and mental health at the start of the study. By the time of the follow-up, the physical functioning of the OA patients had improved (while that of the controls had deteriorated) but their vitality had deteriorated. In addition, better physical functioning at the start of the study was associated with a greater decline at follow-up, but higher BMI seemed to have no impact. Those
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