Healthcare services are facing economic constraints globally with an increasingly elderly population, and greater burdens of osteoarthritis. Because of the chronic nature of osteoarthritis and the costs associated with surgery, arthroplasty is seen as potentially cost saving. There have been no systematic reviews conducted on cost effectiveness analysis (CEA) studies of total hip arthroplasty (THA) in the management of osteoarthritis. The aim of this systematic review was to evaluate CEAs conducted on THA for osteoarthritis to determine if THA is a cost-effective intervention.
A systematic review was conducted using five databases to identify all clinical CEAs of THA for osteoarthritis conducted after 1 January 1997. Twenty-eight studies were identified that met the inclusion criteria. The Quality of Health Economic Analysis (QHES) checklist was employed to assess the quality of the studies.
The average QHES score was 86 indicating high quality studies. All studies reviewed concluded that THA was a cost-effective intervention. In younger patients, cementless THA and ceramic on polyethylene implants were found to be most cost effective. Hybrid THA and metal on polyethylene implants had the greatest cost utility in older patients. In patients with acetabular defects, cemented cup with impaction bone grafting was most cost effective, while dual mobility THA was most cost effective in patients with high risk of dislocation.
We have shown that THA is a cost-effective treatment for hip osteoarthritis. These findings should be implemented into clinical practice to improve cost utility in health services across the world.