Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is an established treatment approach with which good recovery is expected in patients. However, the postoperative satisfaction of THA patients, and factors that affect their treatment outcomes are unclear. We investigated 125 Japanese patients who underwent a primary THA between January 2011 and August 2013. The posterolateral (PL) and muscle-sparing anterolateral (AL) surgical approaches were used. THA outcomes were evaluated using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) at preoperatively and 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Approach-based comparisons demonstrated a significantly higher mean score for physical functioning after 6 months, role physical at 1 year, and social functioning at 1 year in the AL group. No significant difference was observed for other subscale scores at any survey period. The age-based comparison often indicated significant increases of subscale scores in the younger patient group. Weight-based comparisons were not observed for any of the 8 subscales at any survey period. Surgical approach was not a factor affecting the patients’ postoperative quality of life, and the AL approach was not superior to the other surgical approaches involving myotenotomy. Moreover, the THA treatment outcomes were better in the younger patients, and obesity did not affect the outcomes
