Married patients may have quicker recovery after TJA vs unmarried patients
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SAN DIEGO — Patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty who were married had quicker recovery and improved outcomes compared with patients who were not married, according to results.
Ran Schwarzkopf, MD, and colleagues categorized patients who underwent either elective primary total hip (n=2,146) or knee (n=1242) arthroplasty into groups based on whether they were married at the time of their procedure. Researchers collected patient demographics, clinical data and patient-reported outcome measures at various time points.
“The goal of our study was to see if marital status of patients affects their outcomes, affects their discharge disposition, affects how they recover and how they do after surgery,” Schwarzkopf, professor of orthopedics at NYU Langone Health, told Healio Orthopedics of a poster presented at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting.
Overall, 61% of patients in the THA cohort were married vs. 39% unmarried and 55% of patients in the TKA cohort were married vs. 45% unmarried. Results showed patients who were married and underwent THA had significantly shorter surgical times and all-cause ED visits. For both THA and TKA cohorts, researchers found a significantly shorter length of stay and lower rates of 90-day all-cause readmissions among patients who were married. Patients who were married were also more likely to be discharged home, according to results. Although patients who were married and underwent THA reported significantly higher patient-reported outcome measure scores vs. patients who were not married, researchers noted patient-reported outcome measures were not significantly different in the TKA cohort.
“The key findings that we saw was patients who are married seem to have an advantage in their recovery,” Schwarzkopf said.
However, Schwarzkopf noted future research should include patients who may not be married but live with other family members, friends or roommates to see if this type of support has a similar impact on patient recovery. He added knowing what support patients have at home may help surgeons guide their treatment pathway.
“As we go through more surgeries of patients having quicker recovery [and] going home the same day, I think understanding the patient’s environment and support is a strong tool to help us select the proper patients for doing surgeries where we expect our patients to go home the same day and be without the direct care of a hospital,” Schwarzkopf said.
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Singh V, et al. Poster 0117. Presented at: American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Annual Meeting; Aug. 31 – Sept. 3, 2021; San Diego.
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