Background
Osteoarthritis, OA
OSTEOARTHRITIS, JOINT DISORDER
Osteoarthritis (OA) is an age-related chronic progressive joint disorder [THA-related procedures and recovery differ significantly between Germany and the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, as in many other Western countries, there is an increasing tendency to perform p-THA following a fast-track approach. This allows people to leave the hospital within a few days of surgery. A disadvantage is that Dutch patients are minimally supported in their rehabilitation process during hospital admission and after discharge. Postoperative physiotherapy is essentially not covered by Dutch basic health insurance [By contrast, in Germany, most patients stay hospitalized for approximately 8–10 days following p-THA [Due to the expected increase in the number of hip OA patients in both Germany and the Netherlands, the question arises as to which country’s postoperative p-THA approach is more effective in terms of functional outcome, patient satisfaction, and cost effectiveness. As patients with OA are among the main users of the healthcare system, the expected increase in p-THA will result in a higher socioeconomic burden of OA, especially among employable patients [