Does Preoperative Activity Level Affect Postoperative Outcomes Following Total Hip Arthroplasty?

Many patients electing to undergo total hip arthroplasty (THA) value continuing active lifestyles when considering treatment options. Addressing these concerns requires evaluating the effect of preoperative activity level on patient-reported outcomes and improvement following THA.

Three hundred thirty-five patients (368 hips) who underwent THA with a minimum 6-month (mean 533 ± 271 days) follow-up completed preoperative and postoperative University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) activity score along with various patient-reported measures of function, pain, and mental state. Preoperative UCLA score divided patients into inactive, mild, and active groups. Analysis of covariance controlling for age, sex, body mass index, surgical approach, implant, bilateral cases, conversions, and follow-up time evaluated differences among groups for postoperative outcomes with subsequent Tukey-Kramer pairwise comparisons.

Mildly active patients (73:139 male:female) had better postoperative outcomes than inactive patients (40:70 male:female) for UCLA score, EuroQol Visual Analog Scale (EQVAS), Hip Outcome Score (HOS), 12-item Short-Form (SF-12) Physical, and Visual Analog Pain Scale (average/now/worst) (P values <0.001/<0.001/<0.001/<0.001/0.003/<0.001/<0.001). Active patients (32:14 male:female) had better postoperative outcomes than inactive patients for UCLA score, EQVAS, HOS, SF-12 Physical, and Visual Analog Pain Scale Worst (P values <0.001/0.024/0.001/0.001/0.017). No postoperative outcome differences existed between active and mild patients. Inactive patients displayed greater outcome improvements than mildly active patients for UCLA score, Harris Hip Score, and International Hip Outcome Tool (P values <0.001/<0.001/0.013) and active patients for UCLA score, EQVAS, HOS, International Hip Outcome Tool, and SF-12 Physical (P values <0.001/0.008/0.013/0.022/0.004).

Inactive patients achieve greater measure improvements following THA. Active patients achieve better absolute outcomes than inactive patients; however, increasing activity levels do not incrementally improve patient-reported outcome measures. Patients similarly improve pain and mental health regardless of activity level.