Background: As total hip replacement cases increase year after year, registry-wide data becomes increasingly important in order to assess pathology distribution, reimbursement efficiency as well as physician performance. In order to assess all these factors patient evolution needs to be documented after surgery as well, but the main impediment to doing this is losing patients to follow-up. For this reason, the present study aims to perform a descriptive analysis of the hospital’s internal registry data as well as to determine what percentage of patients can be expected to return to follow-up after total hip replacement. Methods: A query of the hospital’s internal registry data in the last years was performed. Patient demographics, county distribution as well as ICD-10 code usage were documented. Data standardization was performed to determine the probability and cumulative distribution of the patient’s age. The chi2 test of independence was used to assess whether there is a correlation between the patient’s gender and ICD-10 codes. Pot hoc power analysis was performed to assess the accuracy of correlation analysis. Results: Only 29.6% of the patients undergoing total hip replacement are from the county within which the hospital is located. 25% of the patients were under 60 years old. Conclusions: Current registry data reveals that most patients undergoing total hip replacement are around 67.5 ± 11 years old, suffer from unilateral or bilateral primary or secondary hip osteoarthritis and only 29.6% of them are likely to return to follow-up.
Preventive medicine plays a crucial role in ensuring the efficiency of healthcare systems, and laboratory investigations represent one of its main pillars. However, achieving an optimal balance between the benefits and costs of testing remains a challenge. Caught between public expectations, appropriate test utilization, and the need for adequate physician training in test ordering, enhancing patients’ understanding and knowledge becomes essential. To explore this aspect, a general online survey was conducted, completed by 321 respondents. The results show that, while respondents generally followed physicians' recommendations, many also sought laboratory testing on their own initiative. Direct access to laboratory services - facilitated by the widespread availability of private laboratories - has become a common practice. This raises concerns about the potential overuse of laboratory testing and underscores the importance of further investigating the factors driving patient self-empowerment. Enhancing shared decision-making between patients and physicians is essential to optimize the benefits of testing, minimize unnecessary costs, and reducing the risk of health-related anxiety.
