In 2010, a higher percentage of men and women aged 45 years and older were discharged home after hospitalization for total knee replacement than in 2000, according to the report. Researchers found more men aged 65 years and older were discharged home in 2010 at 62.3 percent vs. 42.5 percent of women. A higher percentage of women aged 65 years and older were also discharged to long-term care facilities.
Other key findings from the report:
- For both 2000 and 2010, women had a higher rate of total knee replacement (33.0 and 65.5 per 10,000 population, respectively) than men (24.3 and 45.3 per 10,000, respectively).
- The mean age at total knee replacement decreased from 2000 through 2010 for both men and women aged 45 and over.
- Higher percentages of men and women aged 45 and over who were hospitalized for total knee replacement were discharged home in 2010 (69.8 percent and 54.1 percent) than in 2000 (53.5 percent and 40.8 percent).
- In both 2000 and 2010, a lower percentage of women aged 45 and over (40.8 percent and 54.1 percent, respectively) were discharged home after total knee replacement than men aged 45 and over (53.5 percent and 69.8 percent, respectively).
In 2010, total knee replacement was the most frequently performed inpatient procedure on adults aged 45 and over. In the 11-year period from 2000 through 2010, an estimated 5.2 million total knee replacements were performed. Adults aged 45 and over comprised 98.1 percent of those surgeries.
The report used data from the National Hospital Discharge Survey (NHDS) to present trends in the rate of hospitalizations for total knee replacement, mean age at hospitalization, and discharge status for inpatients aged 45 and over from 2000 through 2010.