Postoperative anemia and quality of life after primary hip arthroplasty in patients over 65 years old.

Abstract

It is uncertain whether anemia in elderly patients after primary hip arthroplasty has an effect on their quality of life. We conducted a prospective observational study over 3 mo to investigate the association between discharge hemoglobin levels and subjective experience of quality of life at 2 mo postoperatively in patients aged over 65 yr who were scheduled for primary hip arthroplasty. Quality of life was measured preoperatively and at 2 mo postoperatively using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36) and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Anemia (FACT-Anemia) subscale. Pearson correlation coefficients between change in SF-36 and FACT-Anemia subscale scores (from preoperatively to 2 mo postoperatively) and hemoglobin on Day 8 were calculated. Eighty-seven patients were included in the study. Data were available at 2 mo postoperatively from 79 of these patients. The correlation between Day 8 postoperative hemoglobin and change in SF-36 was 0.49 (P < 0.0005) and change in FACT-Anemia subscale score was 0.46 (P = < 0.0005). The correlation was not significantly changed after adjusting for advancing age, presence of significant cardiovascular disease, or whether the patient was transfused. We found a positive correlation between hemoglobin levels on discharge and change in quality of life scores from preoperatively to 2 mo postoperatively in patients over 65 yr old after primary hip arthroplasty.