Does Physical Activity Increase After Total Hip or Knee Arthroplasty for Osteoarthritis? A Systematic Review

A total of 373 participants across eight studies showed negligible changes in objectively measured physical activity at 6 months after total hip or knee arthroplasty.

• Mixed results were observed for improvements in physical activity at 6 months, with standardized mean differences ranging from -0.20 to 1.80 for hip and -0.36 to 0.63 for knee surgeries.
• At 1 year post-surgery, larger improvements were noted, with standardized mean differences for hip ranging from 0.39 to 0.79 and for knee from 0.10 to 0.85.
• Despite these improvements, physical activity levels at 1 year remained significantly lower than those of healthy controls, with differences of -0.25 to -0.77 for hip and -1.46 to -1.80 for knee surgeries.
• Risk-of-bias scores indicated varying quality among studies, with cohort studies scoring between 3 to 9 out of 11 and case-control studies between 3 to 8 out of 10.
• The findings highlight a discrepancy between perceived functional improvements and actual physical activity levels after surgery, suggesting a need for enhanced behavioral change strategies.

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