Relationship Between Neighborhood-Level Socioeconomic Status and Functional Outcomes After Hip Arthroscopy

Despite the growing volume of neighborhood-level health disparity research, there remains a paucity of prospective studies investigating the relationship between Area Deprivation Index (ADI) and functional outcomes for patients undergoing hip arthroscopy.

To investigate the relationship between neighborhood-level socioeconomic status and functional outcomes after hip arthroscopy.

Cohort study; Level of evidence, 3.

A retrospective analysis of prospectively collected data was performed on patients aged ≥18 years with minimum 1-year follow-up who underwent hip arthroscopy for the treatment of symptomatic labral tears. The study population was divided into ADI_Low and ADI_High cohorts according to ADI score: a validated measurement of neighborhood-level socioeconomic status standardized to yield a score between 1 and 100. Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) included the modified Harris Hip Score, Nonarthritic Hip Score, Hip Outcome Score-Activities of Daily Living, Hip Outcome Score-Sports-Specific Subscale, 33-item International Hip Outcome Tool, visual analog scale for pain, and patient satisfaction.

A total of 228 patients met inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. After patients were stratified by ADI score (mean ± SD), the ADI_Low cohort (n = 113; 5.8 ± 3.0; range, 1-12) and ADI_High cohort (n = 115; 28.0 ± 14.5; range, 13-97) had no differences in baseline patient demographics. The ADI_High cohort had significantly worse preoperative baseline scores for all 5 PROMs; however, these differences were not present by 1-year follow-up. Furthermore, the 2 cohorts achieved similar rates of the minimal clinically important difference for all 5 PROMs and the Patient Acceptable Symptom State for 4 PROMs. When controlling for patient demographics, patients with higher ADI scores had greater odds of achieving the minimal clinically important difference for all PROMs except the 33-item International Hip Outcome Tool.

Although hip arthroscopy patients experiencing a greater neighborhood-level socioeconomic disadvantage exhibited significantly lower preoperative baseline PROM scores, this disparity resolved at 1-year follow-up. In fact, when adjusting for patient characteristics including ADI score, more disadvantaged patients achieved greater odds of achieving the minimal clinically important difference. The present study is merely a first step toward understanding health inequities among patients seeking orthopaedic care. Further development of clinical guidelines and health policy research is necessary to advance care for patients from disadvantaged communities.