A cross-sectional study of perceived injustice and disability in hip osteoarthritis

To determine the correlation among severity of hip osteoarthritis, disability, and Perceived injustice.

A cohort of 46 participants with unilateral hip osteoarthritis underwent hip range of motion measurements and completed the Injustice Experience Questionnaire (IEQ), the Hip Disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS), and a Croft radiological grading of osteoarthritis severity.

The mean age of the cohort was 62.7±10.4 years, and the cohort included 27 females. The mean duration of symptoms was 46.9±20.6 months. The means of each of the five subscales of the HOOS were as follows: Pain, 62.3±9.4; Other Symptoms, 56.7±9.6; Function in Activities of Daily Living (ADL), 58.2±6.7; Function in Sport and Recreation (Sport/Rec), 58.1±6.7; and Hip-Related Quality of Life (QOL) 59.9±7.5. The combined mean hip range of motion (abduction, adduction, flexion, extension, external rotation, internal rotation) was 215.9±10.9 degrees. The mean IEQ score (Perceived injustice) was 12.0±1.7. Of the available factors, only QOL, hip range of motion, and the Croft radiological osteoarthritis grade predicted Perceived injustice scores, with an R-squared of 0.81 in multiple regression analysis.

In this cohort of patients with unilateral osteoarthritis, more severe disease (as measured by restricted range of motion and radiological severity) was highly correlated with higher levels of Perceived injustice. Perceived injustice may thus reflect an appropriate response to the severity of the disease and is thus more likely a result of the disease process and subsequent disability rather than a cause of disability.