Do psychological factors or radiographic severity play a role in the age of onset in symptomatic developmental dysplasia of hip and femoroacetabular impingement syndrome?

BACKGROUND: Age of onset in symptomatic developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) and femoroacetabular impingement syndrome (FAIS) varies. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether psychological factors, radiographic, and clinical variables were related to age of onset of hip pain in DDH and FAIS. METHODS: We collected demographic, clinical, and radiographic data on 56 DDH and 84 FAIS patients. Each was diagnosed based on radiographic findings and clinical history. Age of onset was operationalized by subtracting patient reported duration of symptoms from patient age at presentation. Pain catastrophizing (PCS) and depression were assessed with the pain catastrophizing scale and hospital anxiety and depression scale (HADS), respectively. Multiple linear regression modeling, with Lasso variable selection, was implemented. RESULTS: Pain catastrophizing, anxiety, and depression were not significantly related to age of DDH onset (p-values > 0.27) or age of FAIS onset (p-values > 0.29). LASSO-penalized linear regression revealed alpha Dunn angle, Tonnis grade, prior hip surgery, WOMAC pain score, and iHOT total score were associated with age of onset in FAIS (Adjusted R2 = 0.3099). Lateral center edge angle (LCEA), alpha frog angle, Tonnis grade, SF12 physical functioning, and body mass index (BMI) were associated with age of DDH onset (Adjusted R2 = 0.3578). CONCLUSIONS: Psychological factors, as measured by PCS and HADS, were not associated with age of onset in DDH or FAIS. Functional impairment as measured by WOMAC pain and impaired active lifestyle as measured by iHOT were found to affect age of FAIS onset. For DDH, impaired physical functioning and increasing BMI were found to be associated with age of onset. Severity of the disease, as measured radiographically by LCEA and alpha Dunn angle, was also found to be associated with earlier age of onset in DDH and FAIS, respectively. A patient's radiographic severity may have more of a relationship to the onset of pain than physiologic factors.