Total Hip Replacement (THR) is widely assumed to resolve sleep disturbance commonly experienced by individuals with hip osteoarthritis (OA). We report a study of 329 THRs with mean age of 71.9 years comparing pre-operative and one and two year post-operative patient reported outcomes for sleep disturbance to determine the veracity of this expectation. Data was collected from the validated Oxford Hip Patient Reported Questionnaire. Specifically, Question 12: “During the past four weeks, have you been troubled by pain from your hip in bed at night?” Answers to the question were multiple choice: No nights (4 points), Only 1 or 2 nights (3 points), Some nights (2 points), Most nights (1 point) and Every Night (0 points)

Pre-operatively, the mean score for patients with hip OA was 1.2/4. This increased to 3.5 at one year and was also maintained at two years. The pre- to post-operative improvement was significant at both one and two years for THR with p <0.00001. Pre-operatively, only 6% of patients with arthritic hips reported that they were never woken from sleep because of their painful hip. One year after THR 72% always enjoyed pain free sleeping and at two years this had risen to 75%. When patients who only experienced disturbance one or two nights per month were included, the three figures increased from 13% to 83% and 83% respectively.

The study confirms that sleep disturbance affects over 90% of patients with arthritic hip joints. Over 80% of THR patients will enjoy sleep that is seldom or never disturbed by their artificial hip. The improvement achieved by THR occurs within a year of surgery and is preserved at two years. In this regard, hip replacement is a highly effective intervention.