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Impact of socioeconomic status on total hip arthroplasty

The latest PhD thesis from DCE investigates the role of socioeconomic status in relation to total hip arthroplasty.

Nina McKinnon Edwards, who defended her PhD thesis on November 26, has conducted four studies on the impact of socioeconomic status on total hip arthroplasty in relation to utilization and postoperative complications.

Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is an effective procedure for reducing pain and improving quality of life for patients suffering from osteoarthritis in the hip joint. However, the quality of care and the outcomes after surgery are closely correlated to socioeconomic status (SES). Data from Danish registries offer a unique opportunity to study these associations, as data on SES exist on an individual level.

Nina McKinnon Edwards and colleagues used a combination of data from multiple registries and addressed socioeconomic inequalities in regard to the utilization of THA and the risk of revision, infection, and cardiovascular disease following surgery. Some of the results have recently been published and show that socioeconomic inequality exists in relation to most of the evaluated outcomes.