Patients having a primary total hip or knee arthroplasty for osteoarthritis are mostly happy with the improvement to their health six months down the track, data show.

Furthermore, patient expectations of how they would be after their surgery closely matched actual outcomes, suggesting orthopaedic surgeons had briefed them well about the prognosis.

The data provide the first national prospectively collected information on health and quality of life post-procedure, in line with a global push to evaluate the patient perspective on outcomes, the researchers from the Australian Orthopaedic Association National Joint Replacement Registry said.

Some 10% of patients were dissatisfied with their arthroplasty, however, and more research needed to be done to understand and improve this outcome, the Adelaide team said.