Health-related quality-of-life (HRQoL) scores are required for cost-effectiveness and health-care value analysis. We evaluated HRQoL scores and patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) in patients with advanced glenohumeral osteoarthritis treated with anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty to establish values of HRQoL scores that can be used for cost-effectiveness and value analysis and to assess relationships between HRQoL scores and shoulder and upper-extremity PROMs.
We analyzed 145 patients (145 shoulders) with glenohumeral osteoarthritis treated with anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty; 93 patients had 1-year follow-up. Preoperative and postoperative functional outcomes were assessed with the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) score, the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score, the Simple Shoulder Test (SST), and a visual analog scale (VAS) for shoulder pain and function. Health utility was assessed with the EuroQol-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D), Short Form-6 Dimensions (SF-6D), and VAS Quality of Life (VAS QoL). HRQoL score validity was determined through correlations between the PROMs and HRQoL scores. The responsiveness of HRQoL scores was measured through the effect size and the standardized response mean.
There were significant improvements in all PROMs and HRQoL scores (p < 0.001) at 1 year after the surgical procedure. The changes in VAS QoL and EQ-5D were significantly correlated (weak to moderate) with the changes in all PROMs except the SST, demonstrating comparably acceptable validity. The VAS QoL had a large effect size (1.833) and standardized response mean (1.603), and the EQ-5D also had a large effect size (1.163) and standardized response mean (1.228), demonstrating responsiveness. The effect sizes of all PROMs were larger than those of the HRQoL scores. The change in SF-6D had only a moderate effect size and standardized response mean and was not significantly correlated with the change in any of the PROMs.
Therapeutic Level IV. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.
PROMs and HRQoL scores are not interchangeable, and studies of the cost-effectiveness and value of shoulder arthroplasty should incorporate both shoulder and upper-extremity PROMs and HRQoL scores. The findings of this study provide data on HRQoL scores that are specific to the treatment of advanced glenohumeral osteoarthritis with anatomic total shoulder replacement and can be used for future cost-effectiveness and value analysis studies.