How are those “lost to follow-up” patients really doing? A compliance comparison in arthroplasty patients

摘要

AIM: To determine whether there is a functional difference between patients who actively follow-up in the office(OFU) and those who are non-compliant with office follow-up visits(NFU). METHODS: We reviewed a consecutive group of 588patients, who had undergone total joint arthroplasty(TJA), for compliance and functional outcomes at one to two years post-operatively. All patients were given verbal instructions by the primary surgeon to return at one year for routine follow-up visits. Patients that were compliant with the instructions at one year were placed in the OFU cohort, while those who were non-compliant were placed in the NFU cohort. Survey mailings and telephone interviews were utilized to obtain complete follow-up for the cohort. A χ2 test and an unpaired t test were used for comparison of baseline characteristics. Analysis of covariance was used to compare the mean clinical outcomes after controlling for confounding variables.RESULTS: Complete follow-up data was collected on 554 of the 588 total patients(93%), with 75.5% of patients assigned to the OFU cohort and 24.5% assigned to the NFU cohort. We found significant differences between the cohorts with the OFU group having a higher mean age(P = 0.026) and a greater proportion of females(P = 0.041). No significant differences were found in either the SF12 or WOMAC scores at baseline or at 12 mo postoperative.CONCLUSION: Patients who are compliant to routine follow-up visits at one to two years post-operation do not experience better patient reported outcomes than those that are non-compliant. Additionally, after TJA, older women are more likely to be compliant in following surgeon instructions with regard to follow-up office care.