Responsiveness of the Harris Hip Score and the SF-36: five years after total hip arthroplasty.
OBJECTIVE
Comparing the responsiveness over time of the Harris Hip Score (HHS) and the SF-36 in patients who underwent total hip arthroplasty (THA) and assessing variation in the responsiveness of these measures by the number of co-morbidities.


METHODS
This prospective study analyzed 335 THA patients treated at two southern Taiwan hospitals from 1997 to 2000. Magnitude of change in HRQoL was compared by generalized estimating equation. Bias-corrected and accelerated bootstrapping was used to measure magnitude of change in HHS and SF-36 subscale scores for five different time intervals spanning a 5-year period.


RESULTS
The analytical results indicated that the pain and physical function subscales of the HHS are more responsive than those of the SF-36 for short-term (within 1 year post-surgery) measurements but are less responsive for long-term measurements. At various follow-up intervals, the HHS and the SF-36 significantly differed in ES of changes in pain and physical function subscale scores for patients with one co-morbidity and for patients with two or more co-morbidities.


CONCLUSIONS
For long-term evaluation of THA patients, clinicians and health researchers should weight both measures equally and should also consider co-morbidities.
Shi
Hon-Yi
HY
Graduate Institute of Healthcare Administration, Kaohsiung Medical University, 100 Shih-Chun 1st Road, Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Mau
Lih-Wen
LW
Chang
Je-Ken
JK
Wang
Jun-Wen
JW
Chiu
Herng-Chia
HC
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D025981:Hip Injuries / Q000601:surgery*; D006621:Hip Joint; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013624:Taiwan; D013997:Time Factors; D016896:Treatment Outcome