Education impacts the success of total knee replacement surgery

Total knee replacement operation success is less likely for people from socially deprived areas, especially when level of education is low, outlines a US study in .Arthritis Care & Research.

Data from 3,970 people who had total knee replacement surgery was analysed; 61% of the volunteers had some college education.

They found that people with the double disadvantage of having no college education and living in poor communities had pain scores about 10 points worse than those who had some college education. In wealthy communities, however, college education was associated with only a one-point difference in pain.

It could be that more education is associated with healthy behaviours and better access to care, whereas less education is associated with risk factors such as smoking, poor blood pressure control and inadequate diet. Or it could be that the less educated people from poorer communities were more likely to have their surgery delayed, which meant recovery was affected too.

Click here to read the original research.

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