Total hip arthroplasty restores population health-related quality of life norms

THA was shown to restore HRQoL to that expected of a matched normal population, but in younger patients this was less than expected. Patients aged > 85 years had the greatest magnitude of restoration. Postoperative HRQoL improvement was predominantly influenced by preoperative functional status, rather than BMI alone. These findings challenge current BMI-based eligibility thresholds and support surgical prioritization based on functional impairment severity.