Use of rehabilitation after hip and knee replacement in New Zealand: a national survey.

Aims: Our objective was to describe rehabilitation used before and after joint replacement in New Zealand and evaluate variation based on geography and ethnicity.

Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire-based study we recruited participants 45 years or older (n=608) from the New Zealand Joint Registry six months after primary total hip, total knee or uni-compartmental knee replacement.

Results: The cohort was predominantly New Zealand European (89.9%). The average age of participants was 68.2 years. Less rehabilitation was used pre-operatively (31.0%) than post-operatively (79.6%) and total hip replacement participants reported using less rehabilitation (63.3%) than those after total knee (90.7%) or uni-compartmental knee (80.3%) replacement (p<0.01). There were trends towards more pre-operative rehabilitation for participants living in larger urban areas, most evident for total hip replacement (p<0.05).

Conclusions: Participants reported generally positive outcomes six months after primary total hip, knee and uni-compartmental knee replacement. However, differences in use of rehabilitation services before and after joint replacement were evident depending on joint replaced. Broadening setting options for rehabilitation might improve use of rehabilitation resources.