Racial Disparities in Lower Extremity Arthroplasty Outcomes and Use

Race-associated disparities often occur in patients who undergo lower extremity total joint arthroplasty (TJA). Although it is imperative to elucidate and describe the disparities in race and ethnicity that may influence patient perception, satisfaction, and surgical outcomes, there is a paucity of reports detailing the nature of potential racial disparities in TJA. Therefore, the purpose of this review was to examine racial and ethnic disparities in the (1) physician-patient relationship; (2) use of TJA; (3) intraoperative and 30-day postoperative complications; and (4) patient-reported outcomes. Although there are limited studies that evaluated this topic, it has been shown that there are race-specific differences in physician-patient relationships. Specifically, African American patients report lower satisfaction rates in communication with their physician than their Caucasian counterparts and physicians were more apt to describe African Americans as less "medically cooperative." The majority of the studies the authors found regarding TJA use indicated that African Americans and Hispanics were less likely to undergo lower extremity TJA than Caucasians. Furthermore, racial minorities may have higher 30-day readmission and intra- and postoperative complication rates compared with Caucasians. Despite these compelling findings, concrete conclusions are difficult to make due to the presence of multiple confounding patient factors, and more studies examining the racial and ethnic disparities in patients with TJA are needed.