Greater socioeconomic deprivation predicts worse functional status two years after orthopaedic surgery, but not magnitude of change from baseline.

Summary: Imagine getting joint surgery and wondering how well you'll heal. This study looked at whether a patient's neighborhood (how rich or poor it is) affects their recovery two years later. Researchers checked on over 1,400 patients. They found that people from poorer neighborhoods had a harder time moving around two years after surgery compared to people from richer areas. However, both groups still saw similar improvements from how bad they felt right before surgery. This shows that doctors should think about a patient's living situation when planning their care and predicting their recovery.