Neighborhood Deprivation and Association With Medical Complications, Emergency Department Use, and Readmissions in Shoulder Arthroplasty Patients

Background: Social determinants of health are prognostic indicators for patients undergoing orthopedic procedures. Purpose: Using the area deprivation index (ADI), a validated, weighted index of material deprivation and poverty (a 0%-to-100% scale, with higher percentages indicating greater disadvantage), we sought to evaluate whether there are associations in shoulder arthroplasty patients between higher ADI and rates of (1) medical complications, (2) emergency department (ED) utilizations, (3) readmissions, and (4) costs. Methods: We queried the PearlDiver nationwide database for patients who had undergone primary shoulder arthroplasty from 2010 to 2020. Patients from regions associated with high ADI (95%+) were 1:1 propensity matched to a comparison group by age, sex, and Elixhauser Comorbidity Index. This yielded 49,440 patients in total. Outcomes included 90-day complications, ED utilizations, readmissions, and costs. Logistic regression models computed odds ratios (ORs) of ADI on the dependent variables. P values of < .05 were significant. Results: Patients from high ADI regions showed higher rates and odds of complications than those in the comparison group (10.84% vs 9.45%; OR: 1.10), including acute kidney injuries (1.73% vs 1.38%; OR: 1.23), urinary tract infections (3.19% vs 2.80%; OR: 1.13), and respiratory failures (0.49% vs 0.33%; OR: 1.44), but not increased ED visits (2.66% vs 2.71%; OR: 0.99) or readmissions (3.07% vs 2.96%; OR: 1.03). Patients from high ADI regions incurred higher costs on day of surgery ($8251 vs $7337) and at 90 days ($10,999 vs $9752). Conclusions: This 10-year retrospective database study found that patients from high ADI regions undergoing primary shoulder arthroplasty had increased rates of all 90-day medical complications, suggesting that measures of social determinants of health could inform health care policy and improve post-discharge care in these patients.