Comparison of Health-Related Quality of Life, Work Status, and Health Care Utilization and Costs According to Hip and Knee Joint Disease Severity: A National Australian Study

Ilana N. Ackerman; Zanfina Ademi; Richard H. Osborne; Danny Liew

doi:10.2522/ptj.20120423

Figures

Figure 1.

Study flowchart.

Figure 2.

Health-related quality of life by severity of hip and knee joint disease. Lower Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL) instrument score indicates lower health-related quality of life (range=−0.04 to 1.00). Classification of severity: asymptomatic=Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) score <7, mild-moderate=WOMAC score 7–38, severe=WOMAC score ≥39. Asterisk indicates analysis of covariance with adjustment for age and sex. CI=confidence interval, OA=osteoarthritis. AQoL scores were missing for 2 participants from the mild-moderate group.

Tables

Table 1.

Demographic Characteristics of Study Participants^{^a}

↵^a IQR=interquartile ratio, BMI=body mass index, SEIFA=Australian Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas, OA=osteoarthritis.
^b Complete diagnosis data were not reported by 3 participants; total numbers for each characteristic may not equal n=917 or n=237 because of missing or unclear responses.
^c Mann-Whitney U test; χ² tests were used for all other analyses.

Table 2.

Paid and Unpaid Work Status According to Severity

^a Chi-square test.
^b OA=osteoarthritis.

Table 3.

Health Service Utilization in the Previous Month According to Severity

^a Chi-square test.
^b Health service included in total cost of primary care and specialist medical care analyses.
^c Analyses not performed for “other” types of health services because of infrequent utilization

Table 4.

Previous Hip and Knee Surgery and Estimated Costs According to Severity^{^a}

↵^a N/A=not applicable, IQR=interquartile range.
^b Australian Refined Diagnosis-Related Groups version 5.2 (except for tibial osteotomy and revision knee replacement, which were coded with the use of version 6.0).
^c Total average cost per AR-DRG extracted from the National Hospital Cost Data Collection Cost Report Round 13 (2008–2009). All costs are reported in Australian dollars (A$1.00=US$1.04).
^d Comparison of costs across groups, P=.71.

Vol 93 Issue 7 Table of Contents

Issue highlights

Comparison of Health-Related Quality of Life, Work Status, and Health Care Utilization and Costs According to Hip and Knee Joint Disease Severity: A National Australian Study

Ilana N. Ackerman, Zanfina Ademi, Richard H. Osborne, Danny Liew

Physical Therapy Jul 2013, 93 (7) 889-899; DOI: 10.2522/ptj.20120423