A COMPARISON OF QUALITY-OF-LIFE BEFORE AND AFTER ARTHROPLASTY IN PATIENTS WHO HAD ARTHROSIS OF THE HIP-JOINT

Quality of life before and one year after total hip arthroplasty was evaluated in fifty-six patients who had arthrosis of the hip joint. There were twenty-one men and thirty-five women, and the median age was sixty-five years (range, thirty to seventy-nine years). Before and after total hip arthroplasty, a functional assessment was done with the Charnley-Merle d'Aubigne scoring system. The patients assessed quality of life using the Nottingham Health Profile. In the comparison of quality of life before and after the arthroplasty, significant improvement was observed regarding pain (p < 0.0001), energy (p < 0.0001), sleep (p < 0.0001), and social isolation (p = 0.001). Similarly, there was a significant reduction in the frequency of health-related problems pertaining to housework (p < 0.0001), holidays (p < 0.0001), hobbies (p = 0.0001), social life (p < 0.0001), sexual function (p = 0.001), and family life (p = 0.0005), and among patients who were sixty-five years old or less and who worked at paid employment (p = 0.04). Quality of life after total hip arthroplasty was in close agreement with that of a healthy reference group of similar age and sex distribution. It was concluded that quality of life after total hip arthroplasty is improved considerably. The Nottingham Health Profile is a valuable tool in the evaluation of the result of, as well as the indicators for, total hip arthroplasty.