This study aimed to investigate patients’ attitudes towards day-case hip and knee arthroplasty and to describe patient characteristics associated with different attitudes, with the purpose of providing an insight into the information requirements for patients that surgeons should address when informing patients about day-case surgery. A total of 5,322 patients scheduled for hip or knee arthroplasty between 2016 and 2022 were included in the study. Preoperatively, patients were asked if they were interested in day-case surgery (‘Yes’, ‘Do not know’, ‘No’). Patient demographics including age, BMI, sex, and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) such as the EuroQol five-dimension three-level questionnaire (EQ-5D-3L) were examined within each attitude group. Additionally, changes in attitude were assessed among patients who had completed the questionnaire in association with prior hip or knee arthroplasty.Aims
Methods
The interest in day-case hip arthroplasty is increasing; however, there are conflicting results regarding readmission risk, and little is known about patients’ attitude towards day-case surgery. We aimed to investigate differences in 30-day readmission rates between day-case patients and single-overnight-stay patients following total hip arthroplasty (THA) and explore patients’ attitude towards day-case surgery. From the Danish National Patient Register we identified 29,486 THAs (1353 day-case THAs and 28,133 single-overnight-stay THAs) performed between 2010 and 2020. Day-case surgery was defined as discharge on the day-of-surgery. Overnight admissions within 30 days of surgery were considered readmissions. Differences in readmission rates between day-case and single-overnight-stay patients were investigated using logistic regression adjusted for patient characteristics and year of surgery. In a single-center descriptive study, 2395 hip arthroplasty patients from 2016 to start-2023 answered a questionnaire on patient characteristics, attitude towards day-case surgery and patient-reported outcome measures (PROM). The overall 30-day readmission rate was 4.4% (CI: 4.2–4.6%) with no difference between day-case (4.4%) and single-overnight-stay THAs (4.4%) (odds-ratio: 1.2 [CI: 0.91–1.6]). In the descriptive study answers to the question whether patients were interested in being discharged on the day of surgery, were: “Yes” = 41%, “Do not know” = 20%, “No” = 39%. Patients responding “No” had lower preoperative PROM-scores, were older (“No” = 70.2 y vs. “Yes” = 65.3 y), and more often female (“No” = 72% vs. “Yes” = 52% female). Based on nationwide data from 2010–2020, day-case THA patients were not more likely to be readmitted compared to single-overnight-stay patients. However, most patients were not positive towards day-case surgery. While surgeons may consider day-case surgery to be safe, patients are not intuitively positive, indicating an attitude mismatch. To achieve high success rate and patient satisfaction in day-case surgery, shared-decision making initiatives within day-case surgery are needed.
