Increasing obesity and comorbidity in patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty in the U.S.: A 13-year study of time trends

BACKGROUND: Few, if any data are available are available regarding the time-trends in characteristics of patients who have undergone primary THA. Our objective was to examine the time-trends in key demographic and clinical characteristics of patients undergoing primary total hip arthroplasty (THA). METHODS: We used the data from the Mayo Clinic Total Joint Registry from 1993–2005 to examine the time-trends in demographics (age, body mass index (BMI)), medical (Deyo-Charlson index) and psychological comorbidity (anxiety, depression) and underlying diagnosis of patients undergoing primary THA. Chi-square test and analysis for variance were used. Multivariable-adjusted logistic regression (age, sex, comorbidity-adjusted) compared 1993–95 to other study periods. Odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (CI) are presented. RESULTS: The primary THA cohort consisted of 6,168 patients with 52% women. In unadjusted analyses, compared to 1993–95, significantly more patients (by >2-times for most) in 2002–05 had: BMI ≥ 40, 2.3% vs. 6.3%; depression, 4.1% vs. 9.8%; and anxiety, 3.4% vs. 5.7%; and significantly fewer had an underlying diagnosis of rheumatoid/inflammatory arthritis, 3.7% vs. 1.5% (p ≤ 0.01 for all). In multivariable-adjusted models, compared to 1993–95, significantly more patients in 2003–05 had (all p-values ≤ 0.01): BMI ≥ 40, OR, 2.79 (95% CI: 1.85, 4.22); Deyo-Charlson Index ≥ 3, 1.32 (1.07, 1.63); depression, 2.25 (1.66, 3.05); and anxiety, 1.71 (1.19, 2.15). Respectively, fewer patients had a diagnosis of RA/inflammatory arthritis: 0.28 (0.17, 0.46; p < 0.01). Over the 13-year study period, Deyo-Charlson index increased by 22% (0.9 to 1.1) and the mean age decreased by 0.7 years (65.0 to 64.3) (p < 0.01 for both). CONCLUSIONS: Obesity, medical and psychological comorbidity increased and the underlying diagnosis of RA/inflammatory arthritis decreased rapidly in primary THA patients over 13-years. Our cohort characteristics are similar to previously described characteristics of national U.S. cohort, suggesting that these trends may be national rather than local trends. This is important information for policy makers to take into account for resource allocation. Studies of THA outcomes and utilization should take these rapidly changing patient characteristics into account.