Abstract
OBJECTIVES: With mental health gaining prominence in medical research, understanding the impact of emotional and psychological factors on surgical outcomes is increasingly important. This study evaluates whether patients' coping skills, resilience, and grit influence outcomes such as length of stay (LOS), readmissions, pain, and function following total joint arthroplasty (TJA). METHODS: This retrospective review included 50 patients who completed validated preoperative assessments measuring grit, resilience, and coping strategies. Additional data were drawn from the WHO Well-being Index, SF-8 Health Survey, and FORCE-TJR database. Postoperative hospital metrics and patient-reported outcomes were collected and analyzed at the 12-month follow-up to evaluate correlations between preoperative psychological metrics and surgical outcomes. RESULTS: Preoperative coping and grit scores demonstrated limited associations with clinical and patient-reported outcomes following TJA. Statistically significant correlations included SF-8 scores with 12-month quality of life (p = 0.017), activities of daily living (p = 0.002), and pain (p = 0.027). Higher STRESS scores were negatively correlated with quality of life (p = 0.015). While most associations were not significant, a trend toward significance was noted between grit and pain at 12 months postoperatively (p = 0.09). CONCLUSION: Psychological factors such as coping and grit did not consistently correlate with postoperative outcomes in this cohort. However, preoperative quality of life and stress demonstrated significant correlations with patient reported outcomes at one year postoperatively. These findings underscore the need for targeted preoperative psychological interventions to optimize recovery. Future research should focus on refining assessment tools and exploring their predictive validity in larger cohorts. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: III.