Return to work after primary total hip arthroplasty: a nationwide cohort study
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Abstract
Background and purpose — While the number of working-age patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) is
increasing, the effect of the surgery on patients’ return to
work (RTW) is not thoroughly studied. We aimed to identify risk factors of RTW after THA among factors related to
demographic variables, general health, health risk behaviors,
and socioeconomic status.
Patients and methods — We studied 408 employees
from the Finnish Public Sector (FPS) cohort (mean age
54 years, 73% women) who underwent THA. Information
on demographic and socioeconomic variables, preceding
health, and health-risk behaviors was derived from linkage
to national health registers and FPS surveys before the operation. The likelihood of return to work was examined using
Cox proportional hazard modeling.
Results — 94% of the patients returned to work after
THA on average after 3 months (10 days to 1 year) of sickness absence. The observed risk factors of successful return
to work were: having < 30 sick leave days during the last
year (HR 1.8; 95% CI 1.4–2.3); higher occupational position
(HR 2.2; CI 1.6–2.9); and BMI < 30 (HR 1.4; CI 1.1–1.7).
Age, sex, preceding health status, and health-risk behaviors
were not correlated with RTW after the surgery.
Interpretation — Most employees return to work after
total hip arthroplasty. Obese manual workers with prolonged
sick leave before the total hip replacement were at increased
risk of not returning to work after the surgery