The Duke team will be led by co-principal investigators Linda George, PhD, professor of sociology and associate director of the center for the study of aging, and Frank Sloan, PhD, J. Alexander McMahon professor of health policy and management and professor of economics. The team will receive nearly $600,000 over three years for "Assessing the Impact of Implantable Medical Devices on Disability, Health, and Medicare Expenditures," which will explore the effects of three commonly used implantable medical devices--total knee and hip replacement systems, and cardiac pacemakers--on multiple outcomes, including disability rates, changes in comorbidities, and the recipient's total Medicare expenditures.

According to the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, approximately 773,000 Americans undergo knee- or hip-replacement surgery each year. Researchers will measure how these orthopedic devices have contributed to the decline in elderly disability over the past quarter century. They will also explore the lifetime benefits of joint replacement devices for patients, including physical functioning; the onset or worsening of comorbid conditions such as diabetes and obesity; and the impact of joint replacements on Medicare expenditures and personal and institutional care costs. This analysis will also be applied to implantable cardiac pacemakers.

The new study builds on the team's previous research, which demonstrated that, in the short-term, total knee- and hip-replacement systems lessened disability for the elderly at any age. Findings will shed light on how these devices impact both the economy and patients--an issue at the center of healthcare reform implementation.

The two follow-on grants support InHealth's mission to measure the effects of advanced medical technologies. Since its establishment in 2004, InHealth has invested more than $11 million in research-related activities, including grants to Duke University, Harvard/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Johns Hopkins University, Medical College of Georgia, Northwestern University, Stanford University, Tufts University, the University of Houston, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Southern California.

Source: InHealth: The Institute for Health Technology Studies