Waiting for orthopaedic surgery: factors associated with waiting times and patients' opinion.

OBJECTIVE: To assess waiting times for three groups of orthopaedic patients in Sweden and to identify factors explaining variations in waiting time. Also examined were factors associated with patients' perceptions that waiting times were too long. DESIGN: Retrospective study. SETTING AND STUDY PARTICIPANTS: Patients from orthopaedic units at 10 Swedish hospitals participated in the study. A questionnaire was sent to 1336 surgical patients (517 hip replacement, 321 back surgery, and 498 arthroscopic knee surgery) 3 months after surgery. Information extracted from the hospitals' patient administrative systems was also used. Outcome measures. Length of waiting time, socio-economic variables, hospital type, health-related quality of life, and opinion about waiting time. The data were analysed mainly using regression analyses. RESULTS: The overall response rate was 79%. In all pre-operative stages, waiting times were longest in the hip replacement group. Socio-economic variables were not consistent determinants of variation in waiting times except for working status in the back surgery group where working patients had shorter waiting times than non-working patients irrespective of phase of waiting time. Admission to a county/district county hospital, compared with a university/regional hospital, was associated with shorter time on the waiting list. Patients with better health-related quality of life had significantly longer waiting times for arthroscopic knee surgery by all waiting time measures. The length of wait was a significant predictor of the patients' acceptance of waiting time. Patients' influence over the date of surgery also appeared to affect their opinion about the waiting time. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital-related factors are more important than patient characteristics as explanations of variations in waiting times for orthopaedic surgery. Patients value short waiting times and the possibility of influencing the date of surgery.     

A bird can''t fly on one wing: patient views on waiting for hip and knee replacement surgery

OBJECTIVES: To obtain patients' perspectives on acceptable waiting times for hip or knee replacement surgery. METHODS: A questionnaire with both open- and close-ended items was mailed to 432 consecutive patients who had hip or knee replacement surgery 3-12 months previously in Saskatchewan, Canada. A content analysis was used to analyse the text data from the open-ended questions. RESULTS: The sample of 303 (response rate 70%) was 59% female with a mean age of 70 years (SD 11). The median waiting time from the decision date to surgery was 17 weeks. Individuals who rated their waiting time very acceptable (48%) had a median waiting time of 13 weeks compared with a median waiting time of 22 weeks for those who rated it unacceptable (23%). The two most common determinants of acceptability were patient expectations and pain and its impact on patient quality of life. The median maximum acceptable waiting time was 13 weeks and median ideal waiting time, 8.6 weeks. Seventy-nine per cent felt that those in greater need (higher severity) should go before them on the waiting list. Patient ratings of maximum acceptable waiting time were based on: pain and loss of mobility, time needed to prepare for surgery, and severity at the time of seeing the surgeon. In consideration of changing their surgeon to one with a shorter waiting list, 68% would not. CONCLUSIONS: Patient views on waiting times are not only related to quality of life issues, but also to prior expectations and notions of fairness and priority. Understanding patient views on waiting for surgery has implications for better management of waiting times and experiences for joint replacement.     

Improving the management of waiting lists for elective healthcare services: public perspectives on proposed solutions

An innovative approach to managing waiting lists and access to elective care, and one that is more fair and consistent with the 'guarantee of access' as stipulated in the Canada Health Act, has been developed by a partnership of medical associations, provincial ministries of health, regional health authorities and research centres. Operating as the Western Canada Waiting List Project, this group has developed beta versions of waiting list prioritization tools in five problematic clinical areas: hip and knee joint replacement; cataract removal surgery; general surgery; children's mental health services; and MRI scanning.     

Health-related and overall quality of life of patients with chronic hip and knee complaints in general practice

Background: Information about quality of life of patients with chronic hip or knee complaints in general practice is scarce. This study describes the health-related and overall quality of life (HRQL) of these complaints. Methods: Data were obtained from a cohort study in general practice. HRQL at three months follow-up was analysed. HRQL was measured as: symptoms, physical, psychological and social functioning, and general health perceptions, using the Western Ontario and McMaster Universities osteoarthritis index (WOMAC) and the MOS 36-item short-form-health survey (SF-36). Overall quality of life was measured using a 5-point rating scale. Results: The results show that patients with chronic hip or knee complaints have a substantial lower HRQL compared to patients who had recovered from baseline hip or knee complaints. The largest effect was found on symptoms and physical functioning: up to 2.9 standard deviations below patients who had recovered from baseline hip or knee complaints. Scores of patients with both chronic hip and knee complaints were significantly worse than scores of patients with only knee complaints on most subscales. Conclusion: In patients with chronic hip or knee complaints the worst scores were seen on scales that measure symptoms and physical functioning, but still a substantially lower score was obtained for overall quality of life. Quality of life was poorer for patients with both chronic hip and knee complaints compared to those with chronic hip or knee complaints only.     

Results of a management plan for surgical waiting lists for hip and knee replacements

This study describes the implementation of a management plan for surgical joint replacement waiting lists and its results after 3 years. The plan was based on the following: unification of information and scheduling, periodic review, clinical guidelines, management of demand, prioritization according to need, and increasing the services provided. During the first year, the plan succeeded in revealing the real waiting list, with 23% more patients than previously included. Three years later, 16% of the patients had not turned up for surgery after being scheduled; the mean length of hospital stay for joint replacements had been reduced by 4 days; 59.5% of the patients joining the list had been assessed with a prioritization instrument, and the number of joint replacements had increased by 16% with a reduction of 14.7% in patients waiting for joint replacements. The resolution time for these procedures had also decreased by 3 months for knee arthroplasty and by 1 month for hip arthroplasty.     

Pain and overall health status in older people with hip and knee replacement: a population perspective

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the health-related quality of life and presence of hip or knee pain according to whether or not people had had previous hip or knee arthroplasty. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: Cross-sectional survey representing randomly selected sample of 5500 elderly (65+) people. Pain prevalence rates obtained from standard screening questions. Standard pain severity ratings obtained for each hip and knee. RESULTS: People with a past arthroplasty had worse health status compared to other people (p < 0.001 for all but two SF-36 dimensions). Hip or knee pain was more prevalent amongst people with past hip or knee replacement than amongst those without (62.5% versus 36.5% respectively; following adjustment for age and sex: Mantel-Haenszel combined odds ratio = 2.90, 95% CI 2.30-3.68, p < 0.001). More replaced knee joints were symptomatic than replaced hip joints (OR = 1.62, p = 0.022). CONCLUSIONS: Elderly people with a past hip or knee arthroplasty have significantly greater health and social care needs than other people--especially those related to pain and mobility. This may reflect the generalised nature of the underlying disease process.     

Is longer waiting time associated with health and social services utilization before treatment? A randomized study

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether longer waiting time for major joint replacement is associated with health and social services utilization before treatment. METHODS: When placed on the waiting list, patients were randomized to short (相似文献   

Dissecting a waiting list.

This study examines a list of 1,283 patients waiting for general and orthopaedic surgery in an outer London borough. In general surgery varicose vein and hernia surgery accounted for 60% of those waiting more than one year. Of those who had waited more than a year on the orthopaedic list 25% were waiting for knee replacement surgery. The average length of time spent waiting was 10 months, with some people waiting over 5 years. The impact of the numbers waiting a long time on aggregate waiting time was highlighted by weighting the numbers waiting by the months spent waiting. Analysis of urgency codes indicates that although there was a statistically significant relationship between urgency and the length of waiting time there were some anomalies. There was considerable inter-consultant variation in list size, waiting times and the case mix. Analysis of the flows onto the list and work done in one month showed that it would take a considerable time to clear some lists at present rates of activity. Disaggregated information such as this which explores the flows of patients on to and off of the lists is essential for the management of waiting lists and will become increasingly important as waiting lists become a feature of--'contracts'--service agreements, in the reformed NHS.     

Analysis of regional variation in hip and knee joint replacement rates in England using Hospital Episodes Statistics

OBJECTIVES: Total hip and knee joint replacements are effective interventions for people with severe arthritis, and demand for these operations appears to be increasing as our population ages. This study explores regional variations in health care and inequalities in the provision of these expensive interventions, which are high on the UK Government's health agenda. STUDY DESIGN: The Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) for England were analysed. The HES database holds information on patients who are admitted to National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in England. METHODS: Age-standardized procedure rates were calculated using 5-year age groups with the English mid-year population of 2000 as the reference. Univariate associations between age-standardized operation rates and regional characteristics were assessed using Pearson's correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Age and sex-standardized surgery rates vary by 25-30%. For both hip and knee replacement, rates are highest in the South West and Midlands and lowest in the North West, South East and London regions. In the case of knee replacement, there are also marked differences in the sex ratios between regions. The variable that explained most variation in hip replacement rates was the proportion of older people in the region. In the case of knee replacement, the number of NHS centres offering surgery in the region was the main explanatory variable, with regions with fewer centres having the highest provision rates. CONCLUSION: These data can help to inform planning of services. They suggest that there may be inequities as well as inequalities in the provision of primary joint replacement surgery in England.     

Prevalence and consequences of insomnia in New Zealand: disparities between Maori and non-Maori

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the prevalence of self-reported insomnia symptoms among Maori (Indigenous people) and non-Maori adults in the general population of New Zealand. To explore the consequences for health and quality of life experienced by those who report common insomnia complaints and sleeping problems. METHODS: In 2001, a two-page questionnaire was mailed to a stratified random sample of 4,000 adults aged 20-59 years nationwide. Participants were selected from the New Zealand electoral roll. The sample design aimed for equal numbers of Maori and non-Maori participants, men and women, and participants in each decade of age (72.5% response rate). RESULTS: Population prevalence estimates indicate that self-reported insomnia symptoms and sleeping problems are higher among Maori than non-Maori. Multiple logistic regression analyses showed that self-reported insomnia symptoms and/or sleeping problems are significantly associated with reporting poor or fair health and quality of life outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: Approximately one-quarter of adults in New Zealand may suffer from a chronic sleep problem, highlighting insomnia as a major public health issue in New Zealand. IMPLICATIONS: Significant differences in the prevalence of insomnia symptoms and current sleeping problems with respect to ethnicity have implications in the purchase and development of treatment services, with greater need for these services among Maori than non-Maori.     

综合康复训练在老年股骨颈骨折髋关节置换术后的应用价值研究

目的：研究综合康复训练在老年股骨颈骨折髋关节置换术后的应用价值。方法：将老年股骨颈骨折给予髋关节置换术的患者随机分为术后进行综合康复训练的观察组和常规干预的对照组;分别采用HSS膝关节评分系统判断患者的膝关节功能,采用Harris髋关节评分判断患者的髋关节功能,观察两组患者术后膝关节功能、髋关节功能和生活质量情况。结果：观察组患者的HSS评分、Harris评分以及躯体、心理、社会、认知功能和生活总质量评分均高于对照组。结论：综合康复训练能够改善髋关节和膝关节功能,提高生活质量,具有积极的临床价值。     

Inequalities in accessing hip joint replacement for people in need

OBJECTIVES: To quantify the effects of rurality and socio-economic disadvantage on prior evidence of need for total hip joint replacement and use of health services after adjusting for age and gender. DESIGN: Self-completion validated questionnaire mailed directly to subjects. SETTINGS: Geographical areas covered by Wiltshire and Sheffield Health Authorities in England. PARTICIPANTS: Random stratified sample of 15,000 aged 65 years and over taken from the central age-sex registers. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Prior need for hip joint replacement surgery and whether general practice and hospital services were being used as assessed by the questionnaire. RESULTS: The response rate was 78% after three mailings. Prevalence of need for total hip replacement in the over 64s was 3.4% (95% confidence interval is 3.0% to 3.8%) and in those without co-morbidity 5.4% (95% confidence interval is 4.8% to 6.0%). There were inequalities demonstrated due to age, geography, and deprivation, but not rurality in accessing general practice and hospital services. People who were poor had more need. Older people in need were less likely to be accessing health services. CONCLUSIONS: There is an important unmet need for hip joint replacement in older people with marked inequalities in levels of need and use of services. The use of numbers of people waiting as a performance indicator is perverse for this procedure. We have urgently to expand orthopaedic services and the training of orthopaedic surgeons in England.     

Do English NHS waiting time targets distort treatment priorities in orthopaedic surgery?

OBJECTIVES: To assess and quantify the impact of guarantees on maximum waiting times on clinical decisions to admit patients from waiting lists for orthopaedic surgery. METHODS: Before and after comparative study, analysing changes in waiting times distributions between 1997/8 and 2001/2 for waiting list and booked inpatients and day cases admitted for elective treatments in trauma and orthopaedics in English hospitals. RESULTS: The 2001/2 maximum waiting time target of 15 months did change the pattern of admissions for trauma and orthopaedic elective inpatients, with a net increase in admissions in that year, compared with 1997/8 (and over and above the 30,259 (7.6%) overall increase in all admissions) of patients who had waited around 15 months, of 9333. There was little indication that these additional admissions displaced shorter wait patients. In absolute and proportional terms, admissions increased for all waiting time categories except very short waiter-- one to two weeks (an absolute fall of 2901 and a relative fall of 6591), and those waiting 40--41 weeks. The latter fall was only 111 patients in absolute terms (or 577 relative to the expected increase), however. The former much larger reduction may be an indication of clinical distortions, but it is unclear why very short wait (presumably more urgent) patients should disproportionately suffer compared with longer wait (presumably less urgent) cases. In addition, there was little indication that more minor cases usurped more major cases: 57% of the increase consisted of knee and hip replacement procedures, for example. CONCLUSIONS: While the 2001/2 waiting times target demonstrably changed admission patterns (and was a major contribution to the reduction in long waits), the extent to which this represented significant and clinically relevant distortions is questionable given the lack of widely accepted admission criteria. However, as targets become progressively tougher, there is a need to monitor consultants' concerns more closely.     

Charlson's Index was a poor predictor of quality of life outcomes in a study of patients following joint replacement surgery

OBJECTIVE: We examined the predictive validity of Charlson's Index as a tool to measure and adjust for comorbidity in studies of health-related quality of life(HRQOL) outcomes after joint replacement surgery. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: SF-36 physical component summary scores were available for a cohort of patients who underwent primary hip or knee replacement surgery at one hospital over a 12-month period. Baseline comorbidity was assessed for the same group of patients using longitudinal hospital morbidity data from the Western Australia Department of Health. The presence or absence of individual conditions was determined, and Charlson's Index scores were calculated for each patient, using varying look-back periods. RESULTS: In regression analysis, Charlson's Index was a poor predictor of the HRQOL outcome scores, explaining a maximum 1.79% of the variance. In contrast, the presence or absence of a small number of individual conditions together explained between 5% and 7% of the variance. CONCLUSION: The findings suggest that Charlson's Index should not be used to adjust for HRQOL outcomes, particularly in this patient group with low levels of serious comorbidity. Alternative methods are needed for use in this context.     

膝关节置换术围手术期的护理体会

人工全膝关节置换就是用手术的方法将人工膝关节代替被疾病或损伤所破坏的膝关节,目的是切除病灶、解除疼痛、恢复膝关节的活动与原有的功能,从而提高患者的生活质量。人工全膝关节置换术主要用于治疗骨性关节炎、类风湿性关节炎、创伤性关节炎、纠正关节畸形、强直性脊柱炎等疾病引起的膝关节严重畸形,人工全膝置换术是一种疗效十分确切的手术,是目前治疗膝关节疾病的主要手段之一,做好手术前后护理是手术成功的重要环节。     

Patient-reported outcomes and surgical triage: A gap in patient-centered care?

Purpose

To help address wait times for elective surgery, British Columbia has implemented a triaging system that assigns priority levels to patients based on their diagnoses. The extent to which these priority levels concords with patients’ assessment of their health status is not known. The purpose of this study was to measure the association between the priority levels assigned to patients and their patient-reported outcomes data collected at the time of being enrolled on the surgical wait list.

Methods

Patients waiting for elective surgery in the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority were sampled. Participants completed a set of generic and condition-specific patient-reported outcome instruments, including: the EQ-5D(3L) (general health), PEG (pain), and the PHQ-9 (depression). A multivariate ordered logistic model was used to regress patient-reported outcome values on the priority level assigned at the time of wait list registration.

Results

A total of 2725 participants completed the survey package (response rate 49 %). Using the EQ-5D(3L), 63 % reported having problems with pain or discomfort, 41 % problems performing usual activities, 36 % problems with depression or anxiety, 28 % problems with mobility, and 8 % a problem with self-care. The results from the ordered logistic model indicated very little association between the patient-reported outcomes and wait list priority levels, when adjusted for patient factors.

Conclusions

This study observed no relationship between patients’ self-reported health status and their assigned priority level for elective surgery. A more patient-centered approach to triaging patients for surgical treatment would incorporate patients’ perspective in surgical wait list prioritization systems.

     

Quality of life and functional ability in hip and knee replacements: A prospective study

The impact of hip (THA) and knee arthroplasty (TKA) on patients' health-related quality of life (HRQOL), physical ability and functioning was assessed in a two year follow-up study of 276 hip and 176 knee patients. The eligibility criteria were a diagnosis of primary arthrosis, a primary operation, and total joint arthroplasty. Patients were interviewed by questionnaire prior to the operation and 6, 12 and 24 months after the surgery. Subjective health outcomes were assessed with the Nottingham Health Profile and the 15D, a fifteen dimensional HRQOL measure. Patients' physical ability was assessed using measures of activities of daily living, and of physical mobility. Patient related outcome variations were analyzed by regression models. Major improvements were observed for pain, sleep and physical mobility. On average, in most of the quality of life dimensions the patients attained a similar quality of life as the comparable general population and only 4.7% of hip and 9.7% of knee patients had a worse HRQOL score at all three post-operative measurements than at baseline. Naturally, those with the poorest HRQOL pre-operatively gained most from the operation. High age did not lessen HRQOL gains from THA, but in TKA the oldest patients gained least in terms of 15D scores. Hip, but not knee patients with a long education tended to have greater improvements in quality of life and functional ability.This study was financially supported by the Academy of Finland. All work was performed in STAKES (National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health), Health Services Research Unit, Helsinki, Finland.     

Relationships between body mass indices and surgical replacements of knee and hip joints

BACKGROUND: Osteoarthritis is both the most common form of arthritis and the most common reason for joint replacement surgery. Obese persons are believed to be more likely to develop generalized osteoarthritis that leads not only to knee but also to hip joint replacement surgeries. We hypothesized that obesity is also a risk for partial joint replacements and surgical revisions. METHODS: A frequency-matched case-control study was conducted in Utah. Between 1992 and 2000, 840 hip and 911 knee joint replacement surgery patients, aged 55 to 74 years, were included in this study. Cases were randomly matched to 5578 controls, defined as Utah residents enrolled in a cancer screening trial. Odds ratios (ORs) were calculated using ICD-9 (International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision) procedural codes and body mass index (BMI) groups. RESULTS: There was a strong association between increasing BMI and both total hip and knee replacement procedures. In males, the highest OR was for those weighing 37.50 to 39.99 kg/m(2) (total hip: OR=9.37, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.64-33.31; total knee: OR=16.40; 95% CI 5, 19-51.86). In females, the highest OR was for those weighing > or =40 kg/m(2) (total hip: OR=4.47; 95% CI, 2.13-9.37; total knee: OR=19.05; 95% CI, 9.79-37.08). There were slight gender-specific differences in risk found for partial hip replacement procedures. Unexpectedly, no statistically significant association was found between obesity and the risk for hip or knee revision procedures. CONCLUSIONS: While there is an association between obesity and hip and knee joint replacement surgeries, obesity does not appear to confer an independent risk for hip or knee revision procedures.