Background: Over 7 million people in the United States are living with total hip (THR) or total knee (TKA) replacements. In the past decade, the number of THRs and TKAs have dramatically increased, particularly in the younger population. However, it is unclear if greater utilization of THRs and TKAs have led to an improvement in patient-perceived outcomes. Post-surgical outcomes including quality of life and physical function are commonly assessed using self-report questionnaires. However, these traditional questionnaires do not assess domains important to patients. There is a strong need for a survey that can inform patients of their ability to return to work, return to normal physical or sexual activity, return to other activities important to the patient, and can provide information about severity and incidence of residual symptoms that may affect daily activities.

Technology Description: A new, widely published survey designed to be a standardized assessment for post-surgical THR and TKA outcomes. Domains assessed include physical function, quality of life, return to activities most important to patients (both in work and recreation), return to work, and return to sexual activity. Knee- and hip-specific questions are able to distinguish location of pain and symptom quality. A subscale dedicated to satisfaction provides insights into overall satisfaction with the procedure as well as satisfaction related to daily activities, physical activity, and pain. Our survey provides more granularity and the ability to capture subtle difference in outcomes in more active patient populations. Patient concerns regarding return to normal activities of daily living are assessed, which is unique among currently available surveys. Advanced skip-logic data acquisition allows for many domains to be evaluated in a reasonable time frame. In addition, the blinded administration of the survey eliminates observer bias present when a patient is interviewed by a physician to obtain similar information as derived from the survey. Our survey thus allows for impartial data collection and analyses of post-surgical outcomes.