Is There a Gender Gap in Outcomes After Hip Arthroscopy for Femoroacetabular Impingement? Assessment of Clinically Meaningful Improvements in a Prospective Cohort

BACKGROUND: Although patients have experienced significant improvements after hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement (FAI), prior studies suggest that women have worse outcomes than men. These previous studies lack comparisons of patient-reported outcome (PRO) scores based on gender with respect to clinical significance measurements, including the minimal clinically important difference (MCID) and patient acceptable symptom state (PASS). PURPOSE: To evaluate outcomes after hip arthroscopy for FAI based on patient gender by prospectively assessing changes in PRO scores, MCID, and PASS. STUDY DESIGN: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. METHODS: Women and men undergoing hip arthroscopy for FAI were prospectively enrolled, and preoperative radiographic and intraoperative findings were collected. Patients completed the following PRO surveys before surgery and 2 years postoperatively: modified Harris Hip Score (mHHS), Hip disability and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (HOOS), and 12-Item Short Form Health Survey. Mean scores and percentage of patients reaching MCID and PASS were analyzed. RESULTS: A total of 131 hips were included (72 women, 59 men). Women had smaller preoperative alpha angles (59.1° vs 63.7°, respectively; P < .001) and lower acetabular cartilage injury grade (6.9% vs 22.0% with grade 4 injury, respectively; P = .013). Both women and men achieved equivalent significant improvements in PRO scores after surgery (scores increased 18.4 to 45.1 points for mHHS and HOOS). Women and men reached PASS for mHHS at similar rates (76.4% and 77.2%, respectively; P = .915). MCID was also achieved at similar rates between women and men for all scores (range, 61.4%-88.9%) except the activities of daily living subscale of the HOOS, in which a greater percentage of women reached MCID compared with men (79.2% vs 62.7%, respectively; P = .037). Additional stratification by age group using the median cohort age of 34 years showed no significant differences in PRO improvement based on age group for each gender. CONCLUSION: Women can achieve clinically meaningful improvements in PRO scores after hip arthroscopy for FAI. Compared with men, women demonstrated equivalent high rates of achieving MCID and PASS at 2 years after surgery.