Preoperative health status of total hip replacement patients is better in Japan than in England and the US, suggesting health care contributes little to explaining the better overall health of the Japanese population.
Japanese THA patients' superior baseline health warrants caution in international comparisons; leaves open health care's contribution to Japan's population longevity.
To explore the contribution of health care to the excellent health status enjoyed by the Japanese compared with other industrialized populations, the preoperative health status of a retrospective cohort of 256 patients who underwent total hip replacement in Japan was compared with 301 patients in England (and published data from the United States). Patients in Japan had less severe hip disease, less comorbidity (in particular, less cardiovascular disease), and were in better general health. This finding suggests that health care contributes little to explaining the better health of people in Japan compared with England and the United States.
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Imamura et al. (1997) studied this question.
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