Objective: To estimate the generalisability of treatment effects observed in a randomised trial of hip
fracture surgery implants, to a broader population of people undergoing hip surgery in the United
Kingdom.
Study Design and Setting: In 2018, the WHiTE-3 trial (n=958) demonstrated that a modular
hemiarthroplasty implant conferred ...
Objective: To estimate the generalisability of treatment effects observed in a randomised trial of hip
fracture surgery implants, to a broader population of people undergoing hip surgery in the United
Kingdom.
Study Design and Setting: In 2018, the WHiTE-3 trial (n=958) demonstrated that a modular
hemiarthroplasty implant conferred no additional benefit over the traditional monoblock implant for
quality of life and length of hospital stay. We compared and weighted the trial sample against two target
populations: WHiTE-cohort (n=2,457) and UK-National Hip Fracture Database (NHFD, n=190,894), and
re-estimate expected treatment effects for the target populations.
Results: Despite differences in baseline characteristics of the trial sample and target populations, the reestimated treatment effects were comparable. For quality of life, the differences between the trial
estimate and WHiTE-cohort and NHFD estimates were 0.01 points on the EuroQol (EQ5D). For length of
stay, the difference between the trial estimate and WHiTE-cohort was 0.50 days; and the difference
between the trial estimate and NHFD estimate was -0.47 days.
Conclusion: This generalisability analysis of the WHiTE-3 trial found that the inferences from the trial
can be generalised to the group of individuals in the UK NHFD and the WHiTE-cohort who met the
inclusion criteria for WHiTE-3.