2001 Volume 50 Issue 4 Pages 1149-1152
We conducted a questionnaire survey on the use of reacher a self-help device for 173 OA patients who received total hip arthroplasty more than three months ago. We obtained answers from 103 patients. 92 patients (89%) used a reacher during hospital stay, and 39 patients (38%) used it after discharge. More than half of the patients used it for the purpose of protecting the operated hip joint. Many of the patients used it for reaching objects. While some patients used it for a longer period to remove pants and put on socks. Bilateral hip joint disorder cases took 3.5 months on average to put on socks without a reacher.
