Does Education Level Mitigate the Effect of Poverty on Total Knee Arthroplasty Outcomes?

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Total knee arthroplasty (TKA) outcomes are worse for patients from poor neighborhoods, but whether education mitigates the effect of poverty is not known. We assessed the interaction between education and poverty on 2-year Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) pain and function.

Methods

Patient-level variables from an institutional registry were linked to US Census Bureau data (census tract [CT] level). Statistical models including patient and CT-level variables were constructed within multilevel frameworks. Linear mixed-effects models with separate random intercepts for each CT were used to assess the interaction between education and poverty at the individual and community level on WOMAC scores.

Results

Of 3,970 TKA patient

SUBMITTER: Goodman SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6504983 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature