Effect of obesity on inpatient rehabilitation outcomes following total knee arthroplasty.
OBJECTIVE
To examine obesity effects on outcomes following inpatient rehabilitation in patients following primary total knee arthroplasty or revision total knee arthroplasty.


METHODS
Retrospective, comparative study.


METHODS
Fifty-bed, university-affiliated rehabilitation hospital.


METHODS
Obese (N = 139; body mass index >30 kg/m(2)) and non-obese (N = 146; body mass indexB <30 kg/m(2)) total knee arthroplasty patients. Participants were further stratified based on total knee arthroplasty type, primary and revision for a total of four groups.


METHODS
Interdisciplinary inpatient rehabilitation.


METHODS
Range of motion, length of stay, Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scores, FIM efficiency scores, total and daily hospital charges, and discharge disposition location.


RESULTS
Range of motion and FIM scores improved from admission to discharge in both obese and non-obese patients regardless of total knee arthroplasty type. FIM efficiency was lower in revision than primary total knee arthroplasty (2.8 versus 3.6 patients/day; P < 0.005) but not different between obese and non-obese groups. Total hospital charges were lower for the primary than for the revision patients (P < 0.05), but were directly related with body mass index (r = 0.140, P < 0.05). Discharge disposition locations were not different among groups.


CONCLUSIONS
Rehabilitation teams can expect comparable gains between obese and non-obese patients following total knee arthroplasty, but at a greater expense.
Vincent
Heather K
HK
Center for Study of Complementary and Alternative Therapies and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Virginia Health System, Charlottesville, Virginia 22908-0905, USA. hvincent@adelphia.net
Vincent
Kevin R
KR
Lee
Laura W
LW
Alfano
Alan P
AP
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000191:economics / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D017722:Hospital Charges; D006760:Hospitalization; D006801:Humans; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009765:Obesity / Q000150:complications* / Q000191:economics; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D012086:Reoperation; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014768:Virginia