title: Factors influencing return to work after hip and knee replacement.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Return to employment is one of the key goals of joint replacement surgery in the working-age population. There is limited quantitative and qualitative research focusing on return to work after hip and knee replacement. It remains unclear why certain groups of patients are not able to achieve sufficient functional improvement to allow productive return to work while others can. Very little is known about the individual patient and employer perspectives in this regard.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To review current evidence for the factors influencing employment outcomes in patients undergoing hip and knee replacement.
  
  
  METHODS
  Original articles and reviews in Medline, Embase and PsycINFO from 1987 to 2013 were included in the analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Age, patient motivation, employment before surgery and type of job were found to be important factors in determining return to work following hip and knee replacement.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  There is a need for further qualitative work on how and why these factors influence employment outcomes.
authors.affiliation: Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust, Ashington, Northumberland NE63 9JJ, UK, amalviya@nhs.net.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Malviya
authors.affiliation: Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4AX, UK.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4AX, UK.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kleim
authors.affiliation: Exponent and Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA.
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Kurtz
authors.affiliation: Newcastle upon Tyne NHS Foundation Trust, Newcastle upon Tyne NE7 7DN, UK.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Deehan
mesh_terms: D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D019645:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Knee / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004651:Employment; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D016272:Occupational Health; D036301:Qualitative Research; D020127:Recovery of Function; D062707:Return to Work / Q000706:statistics & numerical data* / Q000639:trends; D014938:Work Capacity Evaluation
keywords: Arthritis; joint replacement; occupational rehabilitation; qualitative