Follow-Up of the Joint Function and Quality of Life After Total Joint Arthroplasty

As the population ageing, more and more patients suffer from joint disease in Taiwan. Joint replacement surgery performed
in Taiwan is about 10,000 to 20,000 cases yearly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the Quality of life and joint
functions of TKR ( total knee replacement ) and THR ( total hip replacement) patients 6 weeks and 3 months after surgery. Convenience sampling was used and a total 126
patients were recruited. Average age was 72.75 ( SD = 9.046). THR surgery was 21( 16.7 % ) and TKR surgery was 105 ( 83.3 % ).
One hundred and twenty patients ( 95.2 % ) lived with family and six ( 4.8 % ) was lived alone. Mean score of perceived the
convenience of home environment was 3.90 ( SD = .74 ) , with 18.7% of patients felt a little inconvenience or very
inconvenience, 81.7% felt convenience or very convenience. The patients had moderate satisfaction about the surgery,
with mean score 17.68 ( SD = 2. 13 ) 6 weeks and 17.75( SD = 2.55 ) 3 months after surgery. There was significant difference
between TKR patients and THR patients on pre-operation ( t = 3.225 , p <.05 ) and 6 weeks after surgery( t = 2.32 , p <.05 ) on EQ5D
utility index. Repeated measures ANOVA was used to analyze TKR patients on joint function ( F = 61.38 , p = .000 ) and
perceived health score ( F = 3.74 , p <.05 ) on pre-operation, 6 weeks and 3 months after surgery. Repeated measures
ANOVA was used to analyze THR patients on joint function and perceived health score on pre-operation, 6 weeks and 3
months after surgery, it showed no significant difference ( p > .05 ). Because of small sample size of THR patients, it May
affect the results of inference. It is recommended to keep track of longer surgical outcomes, and increase the number of
THR patients, to improve the results of inferential.