Women had significantly greater involvement in knee OA-related health care before TKA

In the 12 months preceding total knee arthroplasty, women experienced significantly greater utilization of knee osteoarthritis-related health care than men, according to results.

by Casey Tingle, Healio Orthopedics Today February 10, 2017

Using the Truven Health MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters and Medicare Supplemental and Coordination of Benefit databases, researchers identified 244,059 patients (61.2% were women) who underwent total knee arthroplasty (TKA), had associated diagnosis of lower leg osteoarthritis (OA) and were continuously in the database for 12 months preceding TKA. Researchers also identified patient-specific OA-related health care utilization.

Results showed women were 18.6% more likely to undergo knee MRI compared with men. Researchers noted women were

• 29.8% more likely to receive prescriptions for narcotics,
• 20.4% more likely to have prescriptions for non-narcotic analgesics,
• 31% more likely to receive intra-articular corticosteroid injections and
• 18.3% more likely to receive hyaluronic acid injections.

Compared with men, researchers found women were 28.5% and 39.2% more likely to be prescribed physical therapy and occupational therapy, respectively. However, men were 14.6% more likely to receive knee braces, according to results.

Disclosures

Bawa reports he is a paid consultant for Stryker Trauma and Bone Support; and is a board or committee member for the American Orthopaedic Association and the Orthopaedic Trauma Association. Please see the full study for a list of all other authors’ relevant financial disclosures.

Source Healio Orthopedics Today

[mdi-icon name=”book-open” size=”default” color=”black”] References

Gender Disparities in Osteoarthritis-Related Health Care Utilization Before Total Knee Arthroplasty, Bawa HS, Weick JW, Dirschl DR. J Arthroplasty. 2016 Oct;31(10):2115-2118.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.arth.2016.03.044. Epub 2016 Apr 7.

[mdi-icon name=”book-open” size=”default” color=”black”] Further reading

Women Recover Faster Than Men after Standard Knee Arthroplasty, Thoralf R. Liebs, MD, Wolfgang Herzberg, MD, Annette Maria Roth-Kroeger MD, Wolfgang Rüther MD PhD and Joachim Hassenpflug MD PhD. Clin Orthop Relat Res. 2011 Oct; 469(10): 2855–2865. Published online 2011 Jun 23. doi: 10.1007/s11999-011-1921-z

Clinical Outcomes in Men and Women following Total Knee Arthroplasty with a High-Flex Knee: No Clinical Effect of Gender, Jeffrey M. Nassif and William S. Pietrzak. Scientific World Journal. 2015; 2015: 285919. Published online 2015 Sep 16. doi: 10.1155/2015/285919

Do we need a gender-specific total knee replacement? A randomised controlled trial comparing a high-flex and a gender-specific posterior design, Thomsen MG, Husted H, Bencke J, Curtis D, Holm G, Troelsen A. J Bone Joint Surg Br. 2012 Jun;94(6):787-92. doi: 10.1302/0301-620X.94B6.28781.