Social Determinants of Health in Total Joint Arthroplasty: Race

Social determinants of health (SDOHs), defined as the social and physical conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age, have influenced perioperative total joint arthroplasty (TJA) outcome and quality of care [1-3]. These social and environmental factors may contribute up to one-half of the modifiable factors that affect vulnerability to disease and predict health outcomes, such as mortality risk [4]. Social disparities, on the basis of race, have manifested in the form of higher hospital readmission rates, longer hospital stays, higher likelihoods of discharge to nursing facilities, as well as increased risks for postoperative complications across orthopaedics, including revision surgery, mortality, and infection [5-7].
Source: The Journal of Arthroplasty - Category: Orthopaedics Authors: Tags: Commentary Source Type: research