title: [Quality of life-associated factors at one year after total hip and knee replacement: a multicentre study in Catalonia].
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the health related quality of life (HRQOL) and associated factors of patients before, and one year after, total knee (TKA) and hip (THA) arthroplasty.
  
  
  METHODS
  A quasi-experimental prospective study conducted in hospitals with different levels of complexity and volume in Catalonia, and on patients with an indication of a TKA or THA. Demographic and psychosocial variables were recorded, and the SF-36 and WOMAC, and a question on perception of change after surgery were administered to patients by telephone interview. The standardised differences (effect size) of perceived change using the SF-36 and WOMAC scores before and after surgery were calculated. The factors associated with HRQOL one year after surgery were analysed using adjusted general linear models.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Although there was an overall improvement in most HRQOL domains of patients (n=672), 9% saw little improvement after surgery, with their scores at baseline and follow-up being very similar (small size effect: 0.0-0.4). Women, patients with low social support, with lower scores (worse) in perceived mental health and baseline HRQOL, and who declared that their condition was more severe, perceived a poorer HRQOL one year after surgery (P<.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Factors associated to a worse prognosis one year after an arthroplasty have been identified and are consistent with other published studies. The assessment of HRQOL can be a key instrument for identifying possible patients without improvement, in order to assess alternatives to an intervention, or apply other interventions in order to improve the efficiency of the healthcare process.
authors.affiliation: Agència de Qualitat i Avaluació Sanitàries de Catalunya, AQuAS, España. vserra@gencat.cat
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Serra-Sutton
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Allepuz
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Martínez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Espallargues
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D013030:Spain; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Arthroplasties; Artroplastias; Cadera; Efectividad; Effectiveness; Estudio cuasi-experimental; Hip; Knee; Perceived health; Quasi-experimental study; Rodilla; Salud percibida; Short Form-36; Western Ontario and McMaster Osteoarthritis Index