Last Updated: 2008-07-04 7:33:52 -0400 (Reuters Health), Jul. 4, 2008 (Reuters Health delivered by Newstex) --

Hip replacement makes daily activities easier

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A total hip replacement can make it easier for older adults with hip arthritis to go about their daily routines, a new study shows.

Researchers found that of nearly 400 older adults with hip arthritis, those who underwent a total hip replacement saw improvements in their day-to-day functioning -- from basics like bathing and getting up from a chair, to more strenuous activities like walking a few blocks or lifting 10 pounds.

In contrast, those who did not have the surgery continued to deteriorate, the researchers report in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

It's known that total hip replacements are relatively low-risk and improve pain and range of motion in the joint. But comparatively little is known about how hip replacements affect older adults' daily lives.

The new findings suggest that a new hip does make it easier for seniors to accomplish their day-to-day tasks, according to Dr. Linda K. George and colleagues at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina.

The findings are based on 388 older adults who took part in a Medicare study at some point between 1992 and 2003. Each had hip arthritis at the outset and was followed for four years. Overall, 131 ended up getting a total hip replacement during the study period.

Over time, George and her colleagues found, hip replacement patients reported improvements in their routine daily activities, as well as more taxing activities like squatting, lifting and walking two or three blocks.

Meanwhile, those who did not undergo the surgery tended to decline over time.

Not everyone improved to the same degree, however. Patients who had the bone-thinning disease osteoporosis were less likely than those without this disease to see improvements in their daily activities.

Likewise, obese adults saw fewer gains than thinner men and women did.

These results, the researchers write, suggest that preventing and treating osteoporosis and obesity might improve the overall effectiveness of joint replacements.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, June 2008.

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