Abstract

Introduction. Osteoarthritis of the hip joint is one of the most common chronic diseases of the locomotor system. Total hip replacement (THR) is a treatment option of choice alongside conservative treatment. The aim of the study was the long-term assessment of the quality of life of patients after total hip replacement surgery and after conservative treatment.

Material and methods. The study group consisted of 35 patients diagnosed with many years of osteoarthritis of the hip who underwent THR with posterolateral surgical approach. The assessment was carried out at the Department of Orthopedics and Traumatology of the University Teaching Hospital WAM – CSW in Łódź. The control group consisted of 15 patients with long-term osteoarthritis of the hip, treated conservatively. Medical data were obtained from the history of the disease and the author’s questionnaire, while the World Health Organization Quality OF Life (WHOQOL) – BREF questionnaire was used to assess the quality of life.

The obtained results were statistically analyzed with the use of MS Office and the Student’s T-test, considering the results below p <0.05 as statistically significant.

Results. The assessment of domains was similar in both groups, the greatest dissonance was observed in the assessments of the somatic and social domains. Based on WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire, the majority of patients in the study group rated the quality of life from 60% to 70% of the maximum value, the highest psychological sphere, the least somatic. In the control group, the social domain obtained 78% of the maximum value, other domains – 74% of the maximum value.

Conclusions. Patients treated conservatively assessed their quality of life higher in all domains than patients who underwent THR. In both studied groups, the “positive” variant of the answer was the most frequently chosen in the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire.

Key words:

quality of life, osteoarthrotic hip disease, alloplasty