To describe age-related differences in outcomes among older adults undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA).
Retrospective study.
A total of 1792 patients who underwent primary THA or TKA at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics between 2010 and 2013 were identified in the University HealthSystem Consortium Database and University of Iowa Orthopedics Joint Replacement Registry.
Hospital length of stay (LOS), 30-day readmission rate, in-hospital mortality, number of days admitted to intensive care unit (ICU discharge disposition), in-hospital complications (pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis, wound infection, hemorrhage, sepsis, or myocardial infarction), quality of life (measured using Short-Form 36 [SF-36]), discharge disposition (home, home with home health, nursing home, inpatient rehabilitation, transfer to another acute care hospital, and dead), and total patient level observed hospital cost (based on hospital charge information from each revenue code and estimated labor costs). Outcomes were compared in patients stratified by age and categorized by decade (ie, ≤50, 51-60, 61-70, 71-80, and ≥81).
A total of 871 THAs and 921 TKAs were performed. The mean age of our cohort was 60.5 years and 56.1% were women. In-hospital complication rates and ICU utilization progressively increased with increasing age. There was also a higher likelihood of skilled nursing facility placement and longer LOS. There was no increase in 30-day readmissions, mortality, or total cost. Improvements in patient reported outcomes (SF-36) scores were similar for all age-groups.
Compared to younger patients, older THA and TKA recipients were more likely to experience postoperative complications, admission to the ICU, discharge to a skilled care facility, and had longer hospital LOS. Improvements in patient-related outcomes were similar across all age-groups. These findings may be helpful when counseling older patients regarding elective total joint arthroplasty.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
5
2%
Other
27
12%
Unknown
80
36%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 6. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 10 July 2025.
All research outputs
#8,742,859
of 32,718,554 outputs
Outputs from Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation
#48
of 289 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#81,968
of 300,221 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery & Rehabilitation
#5
of 10 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 32,718,554 research outputs across all sources so far. This one has received more attention than most of these and is in the 73rd percentile.
So far Altmetric has tracked 289 research outputs from this source. They typically receive more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 7.7. This one has done well, scoring higher than 83% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 300,221 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 72% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 10 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has scored higher than 5 of them.
