Objectives: An increasing number of patients are undergoing knee and hip arthroplasty. Similarly, Psychiatric disease has been found to be more prevalent in the patients undergoing arthroplasty than the general population. An increased appreciation of the impact of mental health status on outcomes post arthroplasty could identify an important area to target interventions. The purpose of this study is to assess whether patients with a mental health diagnosis or those using psychotropic medication have an increased length of stay post arthroplasty. Methods: One hundred random medical records were requested from a pre-admission clinic at a private hospital in Perth, Western Australia. All of these procedures were elective in nature. Revision for infection and fractures were excluded. Patients with a mental health history or use of psychotropic medication were identified based on preadmission notes. Results: In total, 17 patients with a mental health history or using psychotropic medication were identified. This group of patients had a statistically significant increased length of hospital stay with an average of 2.63 days (p=0.001) longer. Our study also identified female patients were more likely to be in this group, which is in keeping with the Australian population. Conclusions: A presence of a known mental health diagnosis or use of psychotropic medication appears to increase the likelihood of a lengthened hospital stay post elective hip and knee arthroplasty. Therefore, identifying these patients prior to surgery and offering additional support may benefit both the patient and the healthcare system. Further, studies, which examine the nature of this relationship including potential causal links, and explore the utility of pre or post operative interventions in influencing recovery time, will be useful.
