Return to work following knee arthroplasty: a retrospective review in urban Asian population

An increasing number of working adults undergo knee arthroplasty in Singapore. There is limited data concerning Southeast Asian patients returning to work (RTW) following knee replacement surgery. Our aim was to identify and study factors influencing patients RTW following total knee arthroplasty (TKA) or unicompartmental knee arthroplasty (UKA).

Patients who underwent TKA or UKA between August 2017 and March 2020 in our center were included in this study. Outcomes include RTW and duration prior to RTW.

441 patients underwent TKA (295 women, 146 men, mean age 67.3 years) and 69 underwent UKA (48 women, 21 men, mean age 61.1 years). Patients who underwent TKA returned to work earlier (mean 83.7 ± 27.1 days) compared to UKA (mean 94.4 ± 42.3 days). 90.0% of TKA patients RTW compared to 95.5% who underwent UKA. Of patients who RTW, 94.3% of the TKA group returned to employment of the same nature compared to 92.9% of UKA patients. Patients who RTW were of a younger age (p = 0.03), white collared workers (p = 0.04), and had independent preoperative ambulatory status (p < 0.01).

Younger and independently ambulating patients may have better capacity for rehabilitation and RTW post arthroplasty surgery.