Do Non-English Speaking Patients Undergoing Total Joint Arthroplasty Travel Farther to See a Surgeon Who Speaks Their Language?

This study compared distance traveled by total joint arthroplasty (TJA) patients to surgeons’ clinics who are language concordant (LC) versus language discordant (LD) with their surgeons. A retrospective review of all non-English speaking patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) or total knee arthroplasty (TKA), stratified according to language concordance, was conducted at a single institution between 2011 and 2021. The distance from home to clinic zip code where patients received TJA care was recorded. Of the 837 patients receiving THA, 401 (47.9%) were in the LD group and 436 (52.1%) were in the LC group. In total, 1,675 patients received TKA, with 874 (52.2%) in the LD group and 801 (47.8%) in the LC group. Both TKA and THA LD patients traveled significantly farther from home to clinic than the LC groups (p < 0.001). Non-English-speaking patients undergoing TJA who are language concordant with their surgeon may live closer to their surgeons’ clinic. Level of Evidence: Level III. (Journal of Surgical Orthopaedic Advances 35(2):077–080, 2026) Key words: total joint arthroplasty (TJA), language concordance, language discordance, distance