The association between socioeconomic status and the 30- and 90-day risk of infection after total hip arthroplasty a registry-based cohort study of 103,901 patients with osteoarthritis

N. M. Edwards*, C. Varnum, R. G.H.H. Nelissen, Søren Overgaard, A. B. Pedersen

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal/Conference contribution in journal/Contribution to newspaperJournal articleResearchpeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Aims The aim of this study was to examine whether socioeconomic status (SES) is associated with a higher risk of infections following total hip arthroplasty (THA) at 30 and 90 days. Methods We obtained individual-based information on SES markers (cohabitation, education, income, and savings) on 103,901 THA patients from Danish health registries between 1 January 1995 and 31 December 2017. The primary outcome measure was any hospital-treated infection (i.e. all infections). The secondary outcomes were further specified to specific hospital-treated infections (pneumonia, urinary tract infection, and periprosthetic joint infection). The primary timepoint was within 90 days. in addition, the outcomes were further evaluated within 30 days. We calculated the cumulative incidence, and used the pseudo-observation method and generalized linear regression to estimate adjusted risk ratios (RRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for each marker. Results The cumulative incidence of any infection at 90 days was highest in patients who lived alone (1.5% (95% CI 1.3 to 1.6)) versus cohabitant (0.7% (95% CI 0.7 to 0.8)), had the lowest educational achievement (1.1% (95% CI 1.0 to 1.2)) versus highest (0.7% (95% CI 0.5 to 0.8)), had the lowest income (1.6% (95% CI 1.5 to 1.70)) versus highest (0.4% (95% CI 0.3 to 0.5)), or had lowest savings (1.3% (95% CI 1.2 to 1.4)) versus highest (0.7% (95% CI 0.6 to 0.8)). Within 90 days, the RRs for any infection were 1.3 (95% CI 1.2 to 1.4) for patients living alone versus cohabiting, 1.2 (95% CI 1.0 to 1.3) for low education achievement versus high, 1.7 (95% CI 1.4 to 2.1) for low income versus high income, and 1.5 (95% CI 1.4 to 1.8) for low savings versus high savings. The same trends were also seen for any infections within the first 30 days. Conclusion Our study provides evidence that socioeconomic inequality adversely influences the risk of infection after THA, thus contributing to healthcare disparities and inequalities. We found that living alone, low educational achievement, low income, or low savings were associated with higher risks of infections within the first 30 and 90 days after THA. Therefore, the development of targeted intervention strategies with the aim of increasing awareness of patients identified as being at greatest risk is needed to mitigate the impact of SES on the risk of infections following THA.

Original languageEnglish
JournalBone and Joint Journal
Volume104-B
Issue2
Pages (from-to)221-226
Number of pages6
ISSN2049-4394
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Feb 2022

Keywords

  • Aged
  • Aged, 80 and over
  • Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip
  • Denmark
  • Female
  • Follow-Up Studies
  • Health Status Disparities
  • Humans
  • Incidence
  • Infections/epidemiology
  • Linear Models
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Odds Ratio
  • Osteoarthritis, Hip/surgery
  • Patient Readmission/statistics & numerical data
  • Postoperative Complications/epidemiology
  • Prospective Studies
  • Registries
  • Risk Factors
  • Social Class
  • Social Determinants of Health
  • Treatment Outcome

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