Lower income means less satisfaction after knee replacement surgery

 People with lower incomes report higher levels of dissatisfaction and poorer function after knee replacement surgery than those with higher incomes, says a US study published in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research.

Records were analysed from over 600 patients with an average age of 54 years who had total knee replacement surgery in different areas of the US. Education, income, employment, gender and ethnicity were recorded and questionnaires completed after surgery to assess the level of satisfaction with the results.In households with an annual income of less than $25,000 a year there was less satisfaction with the results and greater functional limitations after the knee surgery.

The authors suggest that people from lower income households may receive less post-acute care rehabilitation.

“Future studies should be directed to determining the causes of this association, and if further studies do, in fact, confirm this hypothesis, then studies of clinical results after total knee arthroplasty should consider stratifying patients by socioeconomic status,” says  Dr Robert Barrack, who led the research.