Total hip arthroplasty (THA) is a clinically beneficial and cost-effective treatment for patients with end-stage hip arthritis.1 Among patients undergoing lower limb arthroplasty, golf is a popular pursuit.2-4 Hip arthritis can limit patients’ ability to play golf, and this can adversely affect quality of life (QoL).5 However, the effect of being a golfer on functional outcomes and QoL following THA versus a non-golfer are unclear. Furthermore, there is a paucity of studies exploring factors associated with return to golf following THA.
Robinson et al6 set out to assess the hip-specific functional outcomes, satisfaction, and improvements in QoL following THA in golfers versus non-golfers. Additionally, the study aimed to determine the rate of return to golf and influencing factors. Overall, 328 patients undergoing primary THA over a one-year period at a single institute were included.6 Of these, 120 patients (39%) were male and 188 (61%) were female, with an overall mean age of 67.8 years (standard deviation (SD) 11.6). There were 44 golfers (14%) within this group.
This study found that golfers had significantly higher hip function than non-golfers at one year following surgery (Oxford Hip Score of 43.1 (SD 5.2) vs 39.5 (SD 7.7); p < 0.001, independent-samples t-test). In addition, golfers had a significantly greater EuroQol visual analogue scale score (82.6 (SD 15.2) vs 77.1 (SD 20.6); p = 0.039, independent-samples t-test) indicating a higher perceived QoL following surgery. Of the 44 golfers, 32 (72.7%) returned to golf, and within this group, 27 (84.4%) were satisfied with their involvement in golf since returning from their surgery. Finally, this study found that male sex (p = 0.001, chi-squared test), those with greater preoperative QoL (p = 0.039, independent-samples t-test) or greater preoperative hip function (p = 0.026, independent-samples t-test) are more likely to return to golf. 6 These findings can assist surgeons and patients in shared decision-making for THA.
Fig. 1
References
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Author contributions
S. T. Khan: Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
P. G. Robinson: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
D. J. MacDonald: Data curation, Writing – review & editing.
I. R. Murray: Supervision, Writing – review & editing.
G. J. Macpherson: Supervision, Writing – review & editing.
N. D. Clement: Conceptualization, Methodology, Supervision, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing.
Funding statement
The authors received no financial or material support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
ICMJE COI statement
I. R. Murray reports consulting fees from Stryker, unrelated to this study. G. J. Macpherson reports consulting fees, payment or honoraria for lectures, presentations, speakers bureaus, manuscript writing or educational events, and support for attending meetings and/or travel from Stryker, all unrelated to this study.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank all the patients who have taken part in this project.
Ethical review statement
Ethical approval was obtained from the regional ethics committee (Research Ethics Committee, South East Scotland Research Ethics Service, Scotland [16/SS/0026]) for analysis and publication of the presented data. The data collection was carried out in accordance with the GMC guidelines for good clinical practice and the Declaration of Helsinki.
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Open access funding
The authors confirm the open access funding for this study was provided by the Department of Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Edinburgh.
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