About
Arthritis is a condition that causes swelling, pain, and stiffness in the joints, which are the places where two bones meet, like your knees, hips, or fingers. Osteoarthritis is "wear and tear" type, where the protective cushioning called cartilage at the ends of your bones wears down over time. It primarily affects the joints that hold the most weight of the body, which is the hip and knee. Treating arthritis in the hips and knees focuses on managing pain, improving joint function, and slowing down joint damage by medication and physical therapy. When those treatments have not helped, surgery is an option. In the hip, this includes totally replacing the hip with artificial parts to mimic the hip's natural motion (total hip arthroplasty), or by giving your hip joint a new surface rather than replacing it entirely (hip resurfacing). Similar principles are followed with total knee arthroplasty and partial/unicompartmental knee arthroplasty. These surgeries vary in type and technique. Our study is designed to show whether surgery is the most effective option for improving the activity levels of patients with arthritis, and if so, which specific type of surgery has the most benefits. We will be assessing how active patients are after having one of the four different surgery types, comparing them to individuals with arthritis who have not had any surgery, as well as healthy individuals. This comparison will use UKBiobank's data, collected through a medical device patients wear post-surgery. This device tracks how many steps they take, how fast they are moving, and their overall activity levels. Our aim to understand which specific hip or knee surgery helps patients become more active.
Staying active is crucial for health, but arthritis can significantly affect a person's mobility and quality of life. Our study will compare activity levels post-different surgeries to identify the most effective one, helping the decision-making of patients and surgeons about maintaining an active life after surgery. This project, spanning 24 months, has significant implications for public health. By understanding how different hip and knee surgeries in patients with arthritis impact activity levels, we will be able to understand which surgery best help arthritis patients resume normal activities and also saves money in the healthcare system. The results from the study could also provide updated information on the guidelines that doctor follow and offer more a personalised and effective care to patients.