Study of Total Knee Arthroplasty in Iran: Implications for Health Managers and Policy Makers

The infinite and increasing need for health service providers along with limited health sources has led to an increase in health costs and, consequently, the transfer of government resources from other social services to the health sector. One of the hospital services that has increased the costs in hospitals is total knee arthroplasty. Knee joint is one of the important joints of the body that is affected by various inflammatory and erosive diseases, which ultimately causes destruction of the articular cartilage and loss of proper joint function. Today, we are faced with an increasing demand for total knee arthroplasty. Knowledge of the distribution and extent of TKA provides the basis for health managers to design and implement interventions to reduce TKA surgery.

This study is a cross-sectional study. 14329 records of total knee arthroplasty patients in Iran were selected by census method in 2019-2021. The data collection tool in this study was a standard checklist. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 24 software using descriptive statistics.

The mean age of the patients was 66.1 years. 81.31% of the patients were female. 87.4% of them lived in cities, 31.5% had supplementary insurance, and most of the patients (51.9%) had undergone total knee arthroplasty in private hospitals. Discussion and

The pattern of total knee arthroplasty in our country is similar to that of other countries; most surgeries are performed in private hospitals, which may generate induced demand. TKA is more prevalent in the urban population, and most people who have had surgery do not have supplementary insurance coverage, and the northern provinces have the highest TKA;  thus, the attention of researchers and policy makers to the field of health in identifying and preventing the factors leading to knee replacement will make the demands for total knee arthroplasty reasonable.