OBJECTIVE: To identify how thyroid diseases impact the patients' lives and to select the most relevant quality of life (QoL) issues for a thyroid-specific questionnaire. DESIGN: Fifteen thyroid experts and 80 thyroid outpatients (14 with nontoxic goiter, 12 nodular toxic goiter, 21 Graves' disease, 17 thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy, and 16 primary hypothyroidism) were interviewed. METHODS: The relevance of 138 thyroid disease-related issues was rated during interviews. For each issue, three relevance measures were obtained: a diagnosis-specific patient rating, a diagnosis-specific expert rating, and a combined overall patient/expert rating. The 75 most relevant issues overall and the 15 most relevant issues in each patient category were selected. RESULTS: Based on the above, 92 issues were selected, covering a broad range of clinical and QoL domains. Across patient groups, broader QoL domains were most relevant, especially fatigue and emotional susceptibility. However, when focusing on individual patient groups, diagnosis-related physical symptoms were very relevant too. Patients rated issues about psychosocial problems and impact on daily life as more relevant, whereas clinicians focused on thyroid-characteristic issues. CONCLUSIONS: A broad range of QoL issues and physical symptoms are relevant for thyroid patients, particularly fatigue and emotional susceptibility. Patients and clinicians offer complementary perspectives on relevance.
OBJECTIVE: To identify how thyroid diseases impact the patients' lives and to select the most relevant quality of life (QoL) issues for a thyroid-specific questionnaire. DESIGN: Fifteen thyroid experts and 80 thyroid outpatients (14 with nontoxic goiter, 12 nodular toxic goiter, 21 Graves' disease, 17 thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy, and 16 primary hypothyroidism) were interviewed. METHODS: The relevance of 138 thyroid disease-related issues was rated during interviews. For each issue, three relevance measures were obtained: a diagnosis-specific patient rating, a diagnosis-specific expert rating, and a combined overall patient/expert rating. The 75 most relevant issues overall and the 15 most relevant issues in each patient category were selected. RESULTS: Based on the above, 92 issues were selected, covering a broad range of clinical and QoL domains. Across patient groups, broader QoL domains were most relevant, especially fatigue and emotional susceptibility. However, when focusing on individual patient groups, diagnosis-related physical symptoms were very relevant too. Patients rated issues about psychosocial problems and impact on daily life as more relevant, whereas clinicians focused on thyroid-characteristic issues. CONCLUSIONS: A broad range of QoL issues and physical symptoms are relevant for thyroid patients, particularly fatigue and emotional susceptibility. Patients and clinicians offer complementary perspectives on relevance.
Authors: Torquil Watt; Ase Krogh Rasmussen; Mogens Groenvold; Jakob Bue Bjorner; Sara Hope Watt; Steen Joop Bonnema; Laszlo Hegedüs; Ulla Feldt-Rasmussen Journal: Qual Life Res Date: 2008-06-27 Impact factor: 4.147
Authors: Branka R Bukvic; Vladan R Zivaljevic; Sandra B Sipetic; Aleksandar D Diklic; Katarina M Tausanovic; Ivan R Paunovic Journal: Langenbecks Arch Surg Date: 2014-07-08 Impact factor: 3.445
Authors: Elsbeth F Taminiau-Bloem; Mechteld R M Visser; Carol Tishelman; Margot A Koeneman; Florence J van Zuuren; Mirjam A G Sprangers Journal: Qual Life Res Date: 2010-01-03 Impact factor: 4.147