ABSTRACT
Objective: To examine gender differences in self-reported pain and function before and after hip replacement surgery and the extent to which overweight, comorbidities and muscular status impact pain and function in adults with disabling end-stage hip joint osteoarthritis. Setting: Orthopedic Hospital Setting on the East Coast of the United States. Study Design: Cross-sectional retrospective chart review. Methods: The desired demographic, physical and psychological attributes of 1040 adults with end-stage hip osteoarthritis hospitalized for hip surgery were recorded and subjected to comparison and correlational analyses. These data included gender, self-reported weight, height, numbers and nature of physical and psychological comorbidities, pain intensity, ambulatory capacity and discharge destination. Sub-group analyses of 808 candidates hospitalized for primary unilateral surgery were also conducted using SPSS 16. Results: There were significant (p < 0.05) associations between gender, pain scores, comorbidity numbers and ambulatory capacity. Specifically, women who exhibited higher comorbid disease rates than men, exhibited higher pre-surgery pain levels and greater functional limitations in walking ability before and after surgery than men with the same condition. In sub-group analyses of men and women with the same mean age, comorbid prevalence rates, and body mass indices, women were found to have significantly higher ideal weights on average than men, and those with higher ideal weights recovered more slowly after surgery (p < 0.05). Conclusion: The presentation of hip joint osteoarthritis is not uniform, and may be impacted differentially by gender. Women with high ideal body weights, may be specifically impacted. Whether genetic or other factors account for gender differences in pain and function among adults with disabling hip osteoarthritis observation needs to be examined.