This study aims to assess the feasibility of conducting a pragmatic, multicentre randomized controlled trial (RCT) to test the clinical and cost-effectiveness of an informal caregiver training programme to support the recovery of people following hip fracture surgery. This will be a mixed-methods feasibility RCT, recruiting 60 patients following hip fracture surgery and their informal caregivers. Patients will be randomized to usual NHS care, versus usual NHS care plus a caregiver-patient dyad training programme (HIP HELPER). This programme will comprise of three, one-hour, one-to-one training sessions for the patient and caregiver, delivered by a nurse, physiotherapist, or occupational therapist. Training will be delivered in the hospital setting pre-patient discharge. It will include practical skills for rehabilitation such as: transfers and walking; recovery goal setting and expectations; pacing and stress management techniques; and introduction to the HIP HELPER Caregiver Workbook, which provides information on recovery, exercises, worksheets, and goal-setting plans to facilitate a ‘good’ recovery. After discharge, patients and caregivers will be supported in delivering rehabilitation through three telephone coaching sessions. Data, collected at baseline and four months post-randomization, will include: screening logs, intervention logs, fidelity checklists, quality assurance monitoring visit data, and clinical outcomes assessing quality of life, physical, emotional, adverse events, and resource use outcomes. The acceptability of the study intervention and RCT design will be explored through qualitative methods with 20 participants (patients and informal caregivers) and 12 health professionals.Aims
Methods
Many different designs of total hip arthroplasty
(THA) with varying performance and cost are available. The identification
of those which are the most cost-effective could allow significant
cost-savings. We used an established Markov model to examine the
cost effectiveness of five frequently used categories of THA which differed
according to bearing surface and mode of fixation, using data from
the National Joint Registry for England and Wales. Kaplan–Meier
analyses of rates of revision for men and women were modelled with
parametric distributions. Costs of devices were provided by the
NHS Supply Chain and associated costs were taken from existing studies.
Lifetime costs, lifetime quality-adjusted-life-years (QALYs) and
the probability of a device being cost effective at a willingness
to pay £20 000/QALY were included in the models. The differences in QALYs between different categories of implant
were extremely small (<
0.0039 QALYs for men or women over the
patient’s lifetime) and differences in cost were also marginal (£2500
to £3000 in the same time period). As a result, the probability
of any particular device being the most cost effective was very
sensitive to small, plausible changes in quality of life estimates
and cost. Our results suggest that available evidence does not support
recommending a particular device on cost effectiveness grounds alone.
We would recommend that the choice of prosthesis should be determined
by the rate of revision, local costs and the preferences of the
surgeon and patient. Cite this article:
We report serum metal ion level data in patients with unilateral and bilateral hip resurfacing over a ten-year period. In these patients there is an increase in both cobalt and chromium levels above the accepted reference ranges during the first 18 months after operation. Metal ion levels remain elevated, but decline slowly for up to five years. However, the levels then appear to start rising again in some patients up to the ten-year mark. There was no significant difference in cobalt or chromium levels between men and women. These findings appear to differ from much of the current literature. The clinical significance of a raised metal ion level remains under investigation.
