Factors associated with the orthopaedic surgeon's decision to recommend total joint replacement in hip and knee osteoarthritis: an international cross-sectional study of 1905 patients.

Summary Objective To determine factors associated with orthopaedic surgeons' decision to recommend total joint replacement (TJR) in people with knee and hip osteoarthritis (OA). Design Cross-sectional study in eleven countries. For consecutive outpatients with definite hip or knee OA consulting an orthopaedic surgeon, the surgeon's indication of TJR was collected, as well as patients' characteristics including comorbidities and social situation, OA symptom duration, pain, stiffness and function (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index [WOMAC]), joint-specific quality of life, Osteoarthritis Research Society International (OARSI) joint space narrowing (JSN) radiographi…