Determinants of health-related quality of life following elective total hip replacement

This study examined the patient perspective of surgical success through the measurement of health related quality of life (HRQOL), in order to identif y the patient characteristics and process issues associated with postoperat ive changes in health status. Patients completed the RAND 36-item Health Su rvey 1.0 (SF-36) prior to surgery and at 6 months following surgery, Baseli ne patient demographic and clinical information were collected from the med ical record and were used to develop models of change in HRQOL for 68 patie nts, While many patients improved, a number experienced no change or even a decline in HRQOL in the postoperative period. Factors associated with chan ge in HRQOL are presented, The findings suggest that factors associated wit h change in health status can be systematically assessed, which may lead to the development of interventions aimed at those patient characteristics or process issues that impact on HRQOL.