Revue de chirurgie orthopédique et réparatrice de l'appareil moteur
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Rev Chir Orthop Reparatrice Appar Mot · Sep 2000
[Quality of life assessment one year after total hip or knee arthroplasty].
The development of quality of life (QOL) instruments has made it possible to obtain an objective assessment of the impact of surgical procedures taking into consideration the physical, psychological and social aspects of the patient's everyday activities. The aim of this work was to evaluate the short-term and long-term course of QOL after total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA). ⋯ These findings confirm the clear improvement in QOL after THA and TKA, mainly due to physical and psychological dimensions. The QOL measurements allow comparisons with other surgical procedures in other fields. They provide supplementary information, notably concerning pain and are particularly useful in orthopedic surgery. The questionnaires are generally well accepted by the patients, particularly short self-administered questionnaires. They provide useful information on the efficacy of THA and TKA in terms of human and social costs and open new perspectives for analysis of prognostic factors for optimal QOL of operated patients.