Low Socioeconomic Status Is Associated With Worse Patient-Reported Outcomes Following Total Joint Arthroplasty: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND

Socioeconomic status (SES)-an individual or group's social standing or class, as measured by education, income, and occupation-has been associated with poor surgical outcomes in orthopaedics. Total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty (THA) are the most commonly investigated orthopaedic surgeries regarding SES and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), yet the results are contradictory. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the impact of SES on PROMs following total joint arthroplasty (TJA).

METHODS

We performed a literature search following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines utilizing MEDLINE (Ovid), EMBASE (Ovid), and Cochrane Library from database inception (1971, 1974, and 1996, respectively) to August 2, 2023, to identify studies investigating SES and PROMs in adults undergoing primary elective TJA. Studies were included if they evaluated one of three SES variables (income, education, or employment status) and reported at least one-year scores using a validated PROM. There were two reviewers who independently screened studies and extracted data.

RESULTS

There were 16 studies included in this systematic review. A total of 55,875 arthroplasties, including 24,055 total knee arthroplasties and 31,820 THAs, were analyzed. Of the studies, eight evaluated income, 15 evaluated education, and two evaluated employment status. The majority of studies investigating income found a statistically significant association between lower income and worse postoperative PROMs. There were ten studies, involving 90% of all patients from the included education studies, which found a statistically significant association between education and postoperative PROMs. There were two studies that found unemployed THA patients had lower improvements in PROMs compared to employed and retired patients.

CONCLUSIONS

Our systematic review found several significant associations between income, education, employment, and PROMs after TJA. Providers should pay special attention to lower-income, less educated, and unemployed patients. These patients may benefit from targeted interventions to achieve substantial clinical benefit after TJA.