Outcomes after hip or knee replacement surgery for osteoarthritis: A prospective cohort study comparing patients quality of life before and after surgery with age-related population norms

Objective: To compare the health-related quality of life of people with osteoarthritis before and after primary total hip and knee replacement surgery with that of the general Australian population. Design: A prospective cohort study. Setting: Three Sydney hospitals, public and private. Participants: Patients with osteoarthritis undergoing primary total hip (n = 59) and knee (n = 92) joint replacement surgery. Main outcome measure: Medical Outcomes Study Short Form (SF-36) scores before and 12 months after joint replacement surgery (compared with population norms). Results: Patients in each age group showed a significant improvement in health-related quality of life after joint replacement surgery in most scales of the SF-36, particularly physical function, role physical and bodily pain. SF-36 scores for the 42 hip-replacement patients aged 55-74 years improved to equal or exceed the population norm on all scales. SF-36 scores of the 52 knee replacement patients aged 55-74 years improved, but physical function and bodily pain scores remained significantly worse than the population norm. SF-36 scores for both hip (n = 17) and knee (n= 40) replacement patients aged 75 years and over improved significantly, becoming similar to population norms for this age group. Conclusions: Total hip or knee replacement for osteoarthritis significantly improves patient health and well-being at 12 months after surgery. Age alone should not be a barrier to surgery

The Impact of Cold Water Immersion on Power Production in the Vertical Jump and the Benefits of a Dynamic Exercise Warm-up

The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of a cold treatment and a dynamic warm-up on lower body power in the form of a countermovement vertical jump (CMVJ). Nine physically active men, who were either current or ex-National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division 1 athletes, consented to participate in the study. Using a balanced, randomized presentation and a within-subject design, each subject performed 4 environmental and warm-up protocols (i.e., ambient temperature without warm-up, ambient temperature with warm-up, cold without warm-up, or cold with warm-up). Two sets of 3 maximal effort CMVJs were performed on a force plate at each testing time point. For each protocol, the subjects completed a pretest set of CMVJ (pretreatment [PRE]), were then exposed to 1 of the 2 temperature treatments, completed another set of CMVJ (initial [IT]), then either went through a 15-minute warm-up, or were asked to sit in place. Then a final set of CMVJs was completed (posttreatment [PT]). The primary finding in this study was that warm-up was effective in offsetting the negative effects of cold exposure on CMVJ power. There was a significant main effect for Time (PRE \u3e PT \u3e IT), and there was a significant (p ≤ 0.05) main effect for Trial (AMB = AMBWU \u3e COLDWU \u3e COLD). Because athletic competitions happen in various colder climates, it is important to make sure that a proper warm-up be completed to maximize the athlete\u27s power output. The results of this study demonstrate that when athletes are exposed to cold conditions, it is recommended that before practice or play, a dynamic warm-up be employed to optimize performance