Social Determinants of Health Disparities Increase 5-Year Revision Rates but Not Postoperative Complications After Primary Hip Arthroscopy.

Purpose: To investigate the impact of social determinants of health (SDOH) disparities on 30-day emergency department (ED) visits, 90-day postoperative complications, and 5-year secondary surgery rates after primary hip arthroscopy using a large national database.

Methods: A national administrative claims database was used to identify patients who underwent primary hip arthroscopy with femoroplasty, acetabuloplasty, and/or labral repair between 2015 and 2022. Queries were performed to identify patients who experienced any SDOH disparities, including economic, educational, environmental, or social disparities; those experiencing SDOH disparities within 1 year prior to primary hip arthroscopy were matched 1:1 by age, sex, Elixhauser Comorbidity Index score, diabetes, obesity, and tobacco use to patients not experiencing any lifetime SDOH disparities. The odds of 90-day complications and 30-day ED visits were compared using multivariable logistic regression. Rates of 5-year revision hip arthroscopy and of any secondary surgery (revision hip arthroscopy or total hip arthroplasty) were compared by Kaplan-Meier analysis.

Results: A total of 3,383 primary hip arthroscopy patients who experienced SDOH disparities were matched 1:1 to a control cohort of 3,383 patients who did not experience SDOH disparities (age of 41.0 years and 79.6% female sex in both cohorts). The odds of adverse events after arthroscopy were low and did not differ between the SDOH cohort (1.51%) and no-SDOH cohort (1.57%, P = .09). Additionally, there was no difference in the odds of 30-day ED visits between the SDOH cohort (5.65%) and no-SDOH cohort (4.79%, P = .10). The rate of 5-year revision hip arthroscopy was significantly greater among patients experiencing SDOH disparities (5.4% vs 4.1%, P = .02); however, there was no difference in the rate of any secondary surgery between cohorts (11.8% vs 10.4%, P = .10).

Conclusions: Patients experiencing SDOH disparities had similar odds of postoperative complications and ED visits after primary hip arthroscopy but greater rates of 5-year revision hip arthroscopy compared with a matched-control cohort of patients not experiencing SDOH disparities.

Level of evidence: Level III, retrospective case-control study.