Hip replacement improves function, saves money at any age, according to study

Seniors with osteoarthritis who undergo total hip replacement are twice as likely to show improvements in physical functioning and an increased ability to care for themselves as those who do not receive an implant, according to a study conducted at Duke University Medical Center.

The investigation, the largest to date examining physical functioning in older adults, also found that there is no age limit on the benefits of total hip replacement (THR) for patients, according to a news release about the study.

Published in the June issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, the study involved a review of data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey – a randomly selected group of Medicare beneficiaries who represent 96% of the U.S. population aged 65 and older – from 1992 to 2003.

Investigators compared health data from 131 patients who received THR to data from 257 patients who also had osteoarthritis of the hip but did not receive hip replacement surgery. Patients were interviewed three times each year for 4 years, according to the news release.

The investigators found that THRs provide a cost savings to the health care system because reimbursement for the procedure (averaging $4,000-$6,000) is less costly than the long-term cost of health care for the disabled, said co-author Linda George, PhD, professor of sociology and associate director of the Duke Center for the Study of Aging, in the news release.

She said health economists also estimate the savings associated with a year of a disability-free life to be approximately $50,000, including all related health-care costs incurred by disabled patients such as hospital stays, nursing homes and home health care.

Patients who were disabled at the time of surgery had transitioned out of disability within 1 year of the procedure.

"We found that total hip arthroplasty/replacement improves everyday life for patients and is as beneficial to people in their 80s or 90s as it is for someone in their 60s," George said in the news release. "But while the number of surgeries conducted in the U.S. has increased dramatically over the last decade, fewer than 25% of patients who could benefit from the procedure elect to receive it."

The research was supported by a grant from The Institute for Health Technology Studies (InHealth).

For more information:
George L, Sloan F, Ruiz D. The effects of total hip arthroplasty on physical functioning in the older population. J Amer Ger Soc. 56(6):1057-1062.