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  Vol. 166 No. 2, January 23, 2006 TABLE OF CONTENTS
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Health-Related Quality of Life and Appropriateness of Knee or Hip Joint Replacement

José M. Quintana, MD, PhD; Antonio Escobar, MD; Inmaculada Arostegui, MHSc; Amaia Bilbao, MSc; Jesús Azkarate, MD, PhD; J. Ignacio Goenaga, MD; Juan C. Arenaza, MD

Arch Intern Med. 2006;166:220-226.

Background  We studied the association between explicit appropriateness criteria for total hip joint replacement (THR) and total knee replacement (TKR) with changes in health-related quality of life of patients undergoing these procedures.

Methods  Prospective observational study of 1576 consecutive patients with diagnoses of osteoarthritis on waiting lists to undergo THR or TKR. Explicit appropriateness criteria using the RAND appropriateness method were applied. Patients completed 2 questionnaires that measured health-related quality of life, the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC), before the procedure and 6 months afterward.

Results  Patients who were considered appropriate candidates for these procedures had greater improvements than those who were considered inappropriate candidates in all 3 WOMAC domains (pain, functional limitation, and stiffness; THR: 43.0, 40.6, and 40.4 vs 14.7, 19.1, and 15.9; TKR: 34.9, 32.5, and 30.2 vs 23.2, 18.9, and 17.1; P<.001 for all comparisons). Patients who underwent THR and were judged to be appropriate candidates had greater improvements in the physical function, role–physical, bodily pain, and social function domains of the SF-36 than those judged to be inappropriate candidates (34.4, 35.1, 33.1, and 26.6 vs 19.6, 9.2, 5.7, and 7.0; P = .04, P = .03, P < .001, and P < .001, respectively). Appropriate candidates for TKR demonstrated greater improvement in the social function domain of the SF-36 after the procedure than those deemed inappropriate candidates (19.9 vs 7.9; P = .004) but not in the other domains of functional status.

Conclusions  These results suggest a direct relationship between explicit appropriateness criteria and better health-related quality-of-life outcomes after THR and TKR surgery. Our results support the use of these criteria for clinical guidelines or evaluation purposes.


Author Affiliations: Unidad de Investigación, Hospital de Galdakao, Galdakao (Dr Quintana and Ms Bilbao), and Unidad de Investigación (Dr Escobar) and Servicio de Traumatología (Dr Arenaza), Hospital de Basurto, Bilbao, Spain; Departamento de Matemática Aplicada, Estadística e Investigación Operativa, Universidad del País Vasco, Lejona, Spain (Ms Arostegui); Servicio de Traumatología, Hospital de Mendaro, Mendaro, Spain (Dr Azkarate); and Servicio de Traumatología, Hospital de Santiago, Vitoria, Spain (Dr Goenaga).



THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Prevalence of Knee and Hip Osteoarthritis and the Appropriateness of Joint Replacement in an Older Population
Quintana et al.
Arch Intern Med 2008;168:1576-1584.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Effect of Patient-Specific Ratings vs Conventional Guidelines on Investigation Decisions in Angina: Appropriateness of Referral and Investigation in Angina (ARIA) Trial
Junghans et al.
Arch Intern Med 2007;167:195-202.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  





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