Do Patients Return to Work After Hip Arthroplasty Surgery

Improvements in total hip arthroplasty implant design and advances in bearing materials, including modern surface arthroplasty, have resulted in these procedures being performed in younger and more active patients. There is limited information in the literature to provide to patients, employers, and insurance companies about returning to work after hip arthroplasty surgery. We conducted a multicenter telephone survey on 943 patients younger than 60 years with a University of California, Los Angeles, activity score of 6 or higher (regularly participates in moderate activities) who underwent hip arthroplasty surgery between 2005 and 2007 at a minimum of 1 year after surgery. We found that most young, active patients employed before surgery can expect to return to work (90.4%), with the vast majority returning to their preoperative occupation, and very few (2.3%) were limited in their ability to return to work because of their operative hip.