Return to Daily Activities, Work, and Sports at 3 Months After Total Hip Arthroplasty.

Abstract

Background: It is largely unknown if and when patients return to daily activities after undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) and which factors might influence this return. This study aimed to assess the percentages of patients who had been able to return to daily activities, work, and sports at 3 months after THA. Furthermore, the time to return and factors influencing the return (patient characteristics, surgical characteristics, and preoperative patient-reported outcomes) were assessed.

Methods: A retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent THA was performed with use of prospectively collected data. At 3 months postoperatively, patients completed a questionnaire regarding their return to 16 different activities across the categories of daily activities, work, and sports. The percentage of patients who returned to an activity, the time to return, and factors influencing the return were analyzed with use of logistic regression models utilizing backward selection.

Results: A total of 2,006 patients were studied. Most of the studied activities had been returned to by the majority of patients at 3 months after THA, with the percentage of patients who returned to an activity ranging from 28.8% to 97.9%. The mean or median time to return to an activity ranged from 1 to 56 days after THA. For 13 out of 16 activities, 1 or more of the studied factors influenced the return to the activity. R² values ranged from 0.057 to 0.273.

Conclusions: At 3 months after THA, 8 out of 10 patients had returned to daily activities, 7 out of 10 had returned to work, and 5 out of 10 had returned to sports. Factors that clearly influenced the return to daily activities, work, and sports could not be established. These findings might be useful in setting realistic expectations when counselling patients on their return to daily activities, work, and sports after THA.

Level of evidence: Therapeutic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.