TY - JOUR

T1 - Quality of life in patients with benign thyroid disorders. A review.

AU - Watt, Torquil

AU - Groenvold, Mogens

AU - Rasmussen, Ase Krogh

AU - Bonnema, Steen Joop

AU - Hegedüs, Laszlo

AU - Bjorner, Jakob Bue

AU - Feldt-Rasmussen, Ulla

N1 - Keywords: Graves Ophthalmopathy; Humans; Hyperthyroidism; Hypothyroidism; MEDLINE; Quality of Life; Questionnaires; Reproducibility of Results; Thyroid Diseases

PY - 2006

Y1 - 2006

N2 - The importance of patient-reported outcomes such as health-related quality of life (HRQL) in clinical research is increasingly acknowledged. In order to yield valid results, the measurement properties of HRQL questionnaires must be thoroughly investigated. One aspect of such a validation process is the demonstration of content validity, i.e. that the questionnaire covers all relevant aspects. We review studies reporting on consequences of thyroid disorders and present the frequency of identified aspects, both overall HRQL issues and classical thyroid symptoms, in order to evaluate which issues are relevant for patients with thyroid diseases. Furthermore, existing questionnaires for thyroid patients are reviewed. A systematic search was performed in the Medline, Cinahl and Psycinfo databases and the reference lists of the relevant articles were hand-searched. Seventy-five relevant studies were identified. According to these studies, patients with untreated thyroid disease suffer from a wide range of symptoms and have major impairment in most areas of HRQL. Furthermore, the studies indicate that impairments in HRQL are also frequent in the long term. Six HRQL questionnaires for thyroid patients were identified. Generally, data supporting the validity of these questionnaires were sparse. According to the available literature, the quality of life of thyroid patients is substantially impaired over a wide range of aspects of HRQL in the untreated phase and continues to be so in many patients also in the long term. Studies systematically exploring the relative importance of these various aspects to thyroid patients are lacking, as is a comprehensive, validated thyroid-specific HRQL questionnaire.

AB - The importance of patient-reported outcomes such as health-related quality of life (HRQL) in clinical research is increasingly acknowledged. In order to yield valid results, the measurement properties of HRQL questionnaires must be thoroughly investigated. One aspect of such a validation process is the demonstration of content validity, i.e. that the questionnaire covers all relevant aspects. We review studies reporting on consequences of thyroid disorders and present the frequency of identified aspects, both overall HRQL issues and classical thyroid symptoms, in order to evaluate which issues are relevant for patients with thyroid diseases. Furthermore, existing questionnaires for thyroid patients are reviewed. A systematic search was performed in the Medline, Cinahl and Psycinfo databases and the reference lists of the relevant articles were hand-searched. Seventy-five relevant studies were identified. According to these studies, patients with untreated thyroid disease suffer from a wide range of symptoms and have major impairment in most areas of HRQL. Furthermore, the studies indicate that impairments in HRQL are also frequent in the long term. Six HRQL questionnaires for thyroid patients were identified. Generally, data supporting the validity of these questionnaires were sparse. According to the available literature, the quality of life of thyroid patients is substantially impaired over a wide range of aspects of HRQL in the untreated phase and continues to be so in many patients also in the long term. Studies systematically exploring the relative importance of these various aspects to thyroid patients are lacking, as is a comprehensive, validated thyroid-specific HRQL questionnaire.

U2 - 10.1530/eje.1.02124

DO - 10.1530/eje.1.02124

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 16556711

VL - 154

SP - 501

EP - 510

JO - European Journal of Endocrinology

JF - European Journal of Endocrinology

SN - 0804-4643

IS - 4

ER -