Quality of Life in Patients with Acromegaly - A Romanian Single Center Cross-Sectional Study.

CONTEXT: Acromegaly, a severe condition characterized by excessive and unmodulated secretion of growth hormone, leads to morphologic disturbances and multisystem complications.
OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of life (QOL) in patients with acromegaly compared to matched obese patients.
DESIGN: This was an observational cross-sectional study. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We enrolled 49 patients with acromegaly and 49 obese patients. AcroQoL (acromegaly QoL questionnaire) was applied to all patients and IGF-1 (type 1 insulin-like growth factor 1) was measured.
RESULTS: Patients with acromegaly had a worse QoL compared to patients with obesity (score= 77(53-86) vs. 96(90-102), p<0.001). In the group of patients with acromegaly, there was no difference in the QoL regarding the activity of the disease (active, controlled, or cured). Men had a higher AcroQoL score than women (score= 88(55-95) vs. 74(52.75-82), p=0.02), but there was no difference between patients with microadenomas and the ones with macroadenomas (score= 82(66-88.5) vs. 73(55-83), p=0.136). The most frequent complications were cardiovascular complications (81.63%), articular complications (73.46%), dyslipidemia (65.30%) and digestive complications (63.26%).
CONCLUSIONS: Despite complex treatment and hormonal control, the presence of complications reduces the quality of life in patients with acromegaly, even when compared with obese patients. ©by Acta Endocrinologica Foundation.