Skip to main content

Lund University Publications

LUND UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES

Impaired Quality of Life After Radioiodine Therapy Compared to Antithyroid Drugs or Surgical Treatment for Graves' Hyperthyroidism : A Long-Term Follow-Up with the Thyroid-Related Patient-Reported Outcome Questionnaire and 36-Item Short Form Health Status Survey

Törring, Ove ; Watt, Torquil ; Sjölin, Gabriel ; Byström, Kristina ; Abraham-Nordling, Mirna ; Calissendorff, Jan ; Cramon, Per Karkov ; Filipsson Nyström, Helena ; Hallengren, Bengt LU and Holmberg, Mats , et al. (2019) In Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association 29(3). p.322-331
Abstract

BACKGROUND: Hyperthyroidism is known to have a significant impact on quality of life (QoL), at least in the short term. The purpose of the present study was to assess QoL in patients 6-10 years after treatment for Graves' disease (GD) with radioiodine (RAI) compared to those treated with thyroidectomy or antithyroid drugs (ATD) as assessed with both thyroid-specific Thyroid-Related Patient-Reported Outcome (ThyPRO) questionnaire and general (36-item Short Form Health Status) QoL survey. METHODS: The study evaluated 1186 GD patients in a sub-cohort from an incidence study 2003-2005 who had been treated according to routine clinical practice at seven participating centers. Patients were included if they had returned the ThyPRO (n = 975)... (More)

BACKGROUND: Hyperthyroidism is known to have a significant impact on quality of life (QoL), at least in the short term. The purpose of the present study was to assess QoL in patients 6-10 years after treatment for Graves' disease (GD) with radioiodine (RAI) compared to those treated with thyroidectomy or antithyroid drugs (ATD) as assessed with both thyroid-specific Thyroid-Related Patient-Reported Outcome (ThyPRO) questionnaire and general (36-item Short Form Health Status) QoL survey. METHODS: The study evaluated 1186 GD patients in a sub-cohort from an incidence study 2003-2005 who had been treated according to routine clinical practice at seven participating centers. Patients were included if they had returned the ThyPRO (n = 975) and/or the 36-item Short Form Health Status survey questionnaire (n = 964) and informed consent at follow-up. Scores from ThyPRO were compared to scores from a general population sample (n = 712) using multiple linear regression adjusting for age and sex as well as multiple testing. Treatment-related QoL outcome for ATD, RAI, and surgery were compared, including adjustment for the number of treatments received, sex, age, and comorbidity. RESULTS: Regardless of treatment modality, patients with GD had worse thyroid-related QoL 6-10 years after diagnosis compared to the general population. Patients treated with RAI had worse thyroid-related and general QoL than patients treated with ATD or thyroidectomy on the majority of QoL scales. Sensitivity analyses supported the relative negative comparative effects of RAI treatment on QoL in patients with hyperthyroidism. CONCLUSIONS: GD is associated with a lower QoL many years after treatment compared to the general population. In a previous small randomized controlled trial, no difference was found in patient satisfaction years after ATD, RAI, or surgery. Now, it is reported that in a large non-randomized cohort, patients who received RAI had adverse scores on ThyPRO and 36-item Short Form Health Status survey. These findings in a Swedish population are limited by comparison to normative data from Denmark, older age, and possibly a more prolonged course in those patients who received RAI, and a lack of information regarding thyroid status at the time of evaluation. The way RAI may adversely affect QoL is unknown, but since the results may be important for future considerations regarding treatment options for GD, they need to be substantiated in further studies.

(Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and , et al. (More)
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; and (Less)
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Graves' disease, long-term, QoL, radioiodine, SF-36, ThyPRO
in
Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association
volume
29
issue
3
pages
10 pages
publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
external identifiers
  • scopus:85062859730
  • pmid:30667296
ISSN
1557-9077
DOI
10.1089/thy.2018.0315
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
ca283f26-3e41-4ebc-8bcf-9a5f9d0baab7
date added to LUP
2019-03-21 13:10:08
date last changed
2024-08-07 12:25:33
@article{ca283f26-3e41-4ebc-8bcf-9a5f9d0baab7,
  abstract     = {{<p>BACKGROUND: Hyperthyroidism is known to have a significant impact on quality of life (QoL), at least in the short term. The purpose of the present study was to assess QoL in patients 6-10 years after treatment for Graves' disease (GD) with radioiodine (RAI) compared to those treated with thyroidectomy or antithyroid drugs (ATD) as assessed with both thyroid-specific Thyroid-Related Patient-Reported Outcome (ThyPRO) questionnaire and general (36-item Short Form Health Status) QoL survey. METHODS: The study evaluated 1186 GD patients in a sub-cohort from an incidence study 2003-2005 who had been treated according to routine clinical practice at seven participating centers. Patients were included if they had returned the ThyPRO (n = 975) and/or the 36-item Short Form Health Status survey questionnaire (n = 964) and informed consent at follow-up. Scores from ThyPRO were compared to scores from a general population sample (n = 712) using multiple linear regression adjusting for age and sex as well as multiple testing. Treatment-related QoL outcome for ATD, RAI, and surgery were compared, including adjustment for the number of treatments received, sex, age, and comorbidity. RESULTS: Regardless of treatment modality, patients with GD had worse thyroid-related QoL 6-10 years after diagnosis compared to the general population. Patients treated with RAI had worse thyroid-related and general QoL than patients treated with ATD or thyroidectomy on the majority of QoL scales. Sensitivity analyses supported the relative negative comparative effects of RAI treatment on QoL in patients with hyperthyroidism. CONCLUSIONS: GD is associated with a lower QoL many years after treatment compared to the general population. In a previous small randomized controlled trial, no difference was found in patient satisfaction years after ATD, RAI, or surgery. Now, it is reported that in a large non-randomized cohort, patients who received RAI had adverse scores on ThyPRO and 36-item Short Form Health Status survey. These findings in a Swedish population are limited by comparison to normative data from Denmark, older age, and possibly a more prolonged course in those patients who received RAI, and a lack of information regarding thyroid status at the time of evaluation. The way RAI may adversely affect QoL is unknown, but since the results may be important for future considerations regarding treatment options for GD, they need to be substantiated in further studies.</p>}},
  author       = {{Törring, Ove and Watt, Torquil and Sjölin, Gabriel and Byström, Kristina and Abraham-Nordling, Mirna and Calissendorff, Jan and Cramon, Per Karkov and Filipsson Nyström, Helena and Hallengren, Bengt and Holmberg, Mats and Khamisi, Selwan and Lantz, Mikael and Wallin, Göran}},
  issn         = {{1557-9077}},
  keywords     = {{Graves' disease; long-term; QoL; radioiodine; SF-36; ThyPRO}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{322--331}},
  publisher    = {{Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.}},
  series       = {{Thyroid : official journal of the American Thyroid Association}},
  title        = {{Impaired Quality of Life After Radioiodine Therapy Compared to Antithyroid Drugs or Surgical Treatment for Graves' Hyperthyroidism : A Long-Term Follow-Up with the Thyroid-Related Patient-Reported Outcome Questionnaire and 36-Item Short Form Health Status Survey}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/thy.2018.0315}},
  doi          = {{10.1089/thy.2018.0315}},
  volume       = {{29}},
  year         = {{2019}},
}