Study: TKA Benefits Men, Women Differently

In the knee replacement arena, men are the stronger sex.

Though men and women benefit from total knee arthroplasty, recent study results indicate that men have higher levels of function and activity both preoperatively and postoperatively than women.

Using a prospectively collected database, researchers with the Mayo Clinic and Sinai Hospital of Baltimore (Maryland) identified 272 total knee arthroplasties (TKAs) with seven years follow-up, and the patients were evaluated for survivorship and outcomes in terms of function, activity and quality of life.

The results showed a mean overall survivorship at five years of 100 percent for men and 99.1 percent for women. There were better final functional outcomes among men, according to outcomes based on Knee Society Score (KSS) functional, Lower Extremity Activity Scores (LEAS) and SF-physical scores. Men also experienced higher preoperative KSS functional, LEAS, SF-36 physical and mental scores, the data showed.

The functional KSS, LEAS and SF-36 functional scores remained higher in men at six weeks and three months after surgery, but the mental scores were about the same for the men and women. Results also showed that men, in the six-week period immediately following TKA, exhibited quicker recovery times than women.

Researchers noted significantly higher functional KSS and SF-36 physical scores among men at one-year follow-up, and significantly higher functional KSS, LEAS and SF-36 physical and mental scores in men at a two-year follow-up. At five and seven years, results showed significantly higher KSS functional scores in men but no significant differences between the men’s and women’s activity scores. At five years, similar improvements were found in the mean functional KSS score and range of motion between men and women. While researchers found significantly higher SF-36 physical scores in men at five years and seven years, SF-36 physical component scores improved consistently in the year following surgery among both men and women.

According to a multiple linear regression analysis, no effects were seen on the SF-36 mental component and KSS knee scores, but female gender had a negative effect on LEAS, SF-36 physical component and KSS functional scores.