Hip replacements do not seem to lead to increased physical activity – new research findings

People who have hip replacement surgery may need encouragement to get active after the operation, says a study published in Clinical Rehabilitation.

Experts carried out a review of the evidence, looking at data from about 1,030 people who had received hip replacements.

The most common reason for a hip replacement is to reduce pain during movement so the team expected that the amount of physical activity after surgery would increase. But no clear evidence of any change in physical activity levels was found.

The next step is to establish how aspects of personality and/or other conditions might influence levels of activity after hip replacements.

“The benefits of regular physical activity following a hip replacement are well known, so this research is important for healthcare professionals because it suggests that patients need to be encouraged to be more physically active,” comments Tom Withers, who led the work.

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