Background/Purpose: The Outcomes Measures in Rheumatology Trials (OMERACT) TJR Working Group has proposed six core domains that would constitute a standardized measurement set that can be used as a tool to compare outcomes among TJR clinical trials. The specific aim was to query two different groups of stakeholders, patients and surgeons, to establish a consensus regarding the domains.

Methods: We e-mailed a survey to 3810 hip/knee TJR patients and 49 hip/knee arthroplasty surgeons at a high-volume orthopedic center of excellence to rate the importance of the six core domains and two additional domains for consideration. Ratings were on a 1 to 9 scale: 1-3 indicating limited or no importance for patients, 4-6 being important, but not critical, and 7-9 being critical. Scores were summarized with median [interquartile range]. Comparisons between the sexes, age groups (< 55 years vs. ≥ 55 years), and participant types (surgeons vs. patients) were made using the Wilcoxon rank-sum test.

Results: 1295 patients (34%) and 21 (43%) surgeons completed the questionnaire. Patient non-responders were similar in age (≥ 55 years, 86%) and gender (57.5% female) to responders. All core domains were confirmed as “critical” by both patients and surgeons. This consensus rating persisted even when compared between the sexes as well as the age groups. The only exception was cost, while “critical” overall, when compared to patients and females respectively, which both surgeons and males scored cost as only “important”, not “critical”. Cost was also rated differently between those < 55 years vs. participants ≥ 55 years: 6 [5, 8] vs. 7 [5, 8], p=0.015.

Conclusion: Our study confirmed that both orthopedic surgeons and TJR patients agree that the OMERACT TJR core domains were critical for patients. These results support a broad endorsement and encourage the identification of candidate outcome instruments to further develop a TJR standardized measurement set.