Maaike van Gerwen1,2, Peter V Cooke3, Naomi Alpert4,5, Floortje Mols6,7, Eric Genden8, Rebecca M Schwartz9. 1. Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA. maaike.vangerwen@mountsinai.org. 2. Institute for Translational Epidemiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. maaike.vangerwen@mountsinai.org. 3. Department of Medical Education, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. 4. Institute for Translational Epidemiology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. 5. Department of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY, USA. 6. CoRPS - Center of Research On Psychological and Somatic Disorders, Department of Medical and Clinical Psychology, Tilburg University, Tilburg, the Netherlands. 7. Department of Research, Netherlands Comprehensive Cancer Organisation (IKNL), Utrecht, the Netherlands. 8. Department of Otolaryngology- Head and Neck Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, One Gustave L. Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA. 9. Northwell Health Department of Occupational Medicine, Epidemiology and Prevention, Great Neck, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine At Hofstra/Northwell, New York, NY, USA.
Abstract
PURPOSE: Patient-reported outcomes are important in the surgical decision-making process for low-risk, differentiated thyroid cancer. Current study aimed to assess patient-reported outcomes in thyroid cancer survivors comparing total thyroidectomy (TT) and lobectomy (LT) using the Patient Reported Outcomes Following Initial treatment and Long term Evaluation of Survivorship (PROFILES) registry. METHODS: European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) scales, illness perception questions, Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) scales and questions about thyroid surgery-related medication use were compared between thyroid cancer patients who underwent TT versus LT using descriptive analyses. RESULTS: In total, 58 thyroid cancer patients who underwent TT or LT were included in this study. None of the EORTC QLQ-C30 scales or questions regarding illness perception were significantly different between the surgical groups. Patients in the TT group had significantly higher belief in the necessity of their medication (21.0 vs 15.4; p = 0.003) and greater concerns about taking their medicines (14.7 vs 11.1; p = 0.008) versus patients in the LT group. CONCLUSION: Concerns about post-surgical medication use specifically in the TT group may indicate that clinicians should consider LT in patients with low-risk, differentiated thyroid cancer when LT and TT are viable surgical options. Clinicians should be aware of the impact of post-surgical medication use in particular following TT and use this knowledge to align goals of treatment with the extent of surgery, allowing for a better-informed decision-making process.
PURPOSE: Patient-reported outcomes are important in the surgical decision-making process for low-risk, differentiated thyroid cancer. Current study aimed to assess patient-reported outcomes in thyroid cancer survivors comparing total thyroidectomy (TT) and lobectomy (LT) using the Patient Reported Outcomes Following Initial treatment and Long term Evaluation of Survivorship (PROFILES) registry. METHODS: European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30) scales, illness perception questions, Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ) scales and questions about thyroid surgery-related medication use were compared between thyroid cancer patients who underwent TT versus LT using descriptive analyses. RESULTS: In total, 58 thyroid cancer patients who underwent TT or LT were included in this study. None of the EORTC QLQ-C30 scales or questions regarding illness perception were significantly different between the surgical groups. Patients in the TT group had significantly higher belief in the necessity of their medication (21.0 vs 15.4; p = 0.003) and greater concerns about taking their medicines (14.7 vs 11.1; p = 0.008) versus patients in the LT group. CONCLUSION: Concerns about post-surgical medication use specifically in the TT group may indicate that clinicians should consider LT in patients with low-risk, differentiated thyroid cancer when LT and TT are viable surgical options. Clinicians should be aware of the impact of post-surgical medication use in particular following TT and use this knowledge to align goals of treatment with the extent of surgery, allowing for a better-informed decision-making process.