Effects of Obesity on Health Related Quality of Life Following Total Hip Arthroplasty

Obesity is known to negatively impact health related quality of life (HRQoL). Although non-disease specific tools have been used to study HRQoL after THA in obese patients, these do not directly measure health utility improvements. All 435 THA patients in the current study, regardless of BMI, reported improvement in HRQoL as measured by EQ-5D, a universal, standardized, non-disease specific preference-based instrument. These data suggest obese patients value their quality of life improvement following THA as much as non-obese patients. Furthermore, the increased activity level observed following THA in obese patients suggests obese patients may also obtain non-disease specific benefits of a more active lifestyle. This information is important for future assessments of value and cost-effectiveness of THA in the obese population.