Postoperative Psychological Factors Are Associated With Perceived Improvement Following Hip Arthroscopy

Psychological factors are receiving increased attention for their role in musculoskeletal health, surgical outcomes, and patient-reported outcome measures. This study examined if preoperative and 3-month postoperative pain catastrophizing, kinesiophobia, and self-efficacy differ between patients who report greater versus less than 75% overall improvement from baseline to 3 months after hip arthroscopy for femoroacetabular impingement syndrome. Of 43 patients, 13 (30.2%) reported <75% improvement 3 months after surgery. Patients who reported <75% improvement had higher pain catastrophizing (p = .04), higher kinesiophobia (p = .02), and lower self-efficacy (p = .007) 3 months after surgery. None of the preoperative psychological factors differed between groups (p ≥ .67). Findings suggest that patients with maladaptive psychological responses 3 months following surgery may also perceive suboptimal surgical improvement.