Physical Function After Total Knee Replacement: An Observational Study Describing Outcomes in a Small Group of Women From China and the United States

Objective

To describe physical function before and six months after Total Knee Replacement (TKR) in a small sample of women from China and the United States.

Design

Observational.

Setting

Community environment.

Outcomes

Both groups adhered to the Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) protocols for the 6-minute walk and 30-second chair stand. We compared physical function prior to TKR and 6 months after using linear regression adjusted for covariates.

Participants

Women (N=60) after TKR.

Interventions

Not applicable.

Results

Age and body mass index in the China group (n=30; 66y and 27.0kg/m²) were similar to those in the U.S. group (n=30; 65y and 29.6kg/m²). Before surgery, the China group walked 263 (95% confidence interval [CI], ?309 to ?219) less meters and had 10.2 (95% CI, ?11.8 to ?8.5) fewer chair stands than the U.S. group. At 6 months when compared with the U.S. group, the China group walked 38 more meters, but this difference did not reach statistical significance (95% CI, ?1.6 to 77.4), and had 3.1 (95% CI, ?4.4 to ?1.7) fewer chair stands. The China group had greater improvement in the 6-minute walk test than did the U.S. group (P<.001).

Conclusions

Despite having worse physical function before TKR, the China group had greater gains in walking endurance and similar gains in repeated chair stands than did the U.S. group after surgery.