Preoperative patient characteristics and outcomes of total knee arthroplasty in a multiethnic Asian population stratified by ethnicity.

We aim to compare the patient profile and outcomes after TKA between the different racial groups in Singapore. Prospective data were collected from 364 patients who underwent TKA in Singapore General Hospital from January 2006 to May 2010. Patients were stratified according to ethnicity and we compared their preoperative demographic data, Short-Form 36 (SF-36), Oxford Knee (OKS) as well as Knee Society Scores (KSS). Malays were younger (62.0 ± 5.3) at time of surgery (p=0.05) and the body mass index of Chinese (27.9 ± 4.7) was lower than Malay (30.4 ± 5.0) and Indian (31.5 ± 4.5) patients (P<0.005). Malay (40.3 ± 11.0) and Indian (39.2 ± 9.3) patients had less favourable preoperative OKS than Chinese (35.9 ± 7.8) patients (P<0.05). All 3 ethnic groups achieved statistically significant improvements in outcome measures but did not differ significantly between the ethnicities.