Impact of total thyroidectomy on quality of life at 6 months: the prospective ThyrQoL multicentre trial

Abstract

Objective This study is to determine the impact of complications after total thyroidectomy on health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) and to identify significant predictive factors of HR-QoL changes. HR-QoL is usually impaired in patients with thyroid diseases compared to the general population. Thyroidectomy is largely performed in the case of benign thyroid benign and can be associated with long-term complications (vocal cord palsy, hypoparathyroidism). Design The prospective ThyrQoL multicenter trial (NCT02167529) included 800 patients who underwent total thyroidectomy for benign or malignant non-extensive disease in seven French referral hospitals between 2014 and 2016. Methods HR-QoL was assessed using the MOS 36-item short form health survey (SF-36) self-questionnaire with a 6-month follow-up. Results We observed a significant improvement of HR-QoL 6 months after surgery (P < 0.0001). Postoperative complications were associated with a non-significant impairment of HR-QoL. In multivariable analysis, Graves’ disease was associated with a significant improvement of HR-QoL (OR = 2.39 [1.49; 3.84]) and thyroid malignant disease with an impairment of HR-QoL (OR = 1.44 [0.99; 2.08]) after thyroidectomy. Conclusion We observed a significant improvement of HR-QoL 6 months after total thyroid surgery for benign thyroid disease.

Health-related quality of life following FDG-PET/CT for cytological indeterminate thyroid nodules

“…As presented in Table 1 , diagnostic surgery was performed after a median of 1.8 months in patients with benign histopathology and 1.9 months in patients with malignancy. Our findings are in line with previous studies that demonstrated a temporary decrease in HRQoL following thyroid surgery and subsequent improvement up to 12 months postoperatively, including an improvement in goitre symptoms and anxiety ( 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 23 ).…”

“…HRQoL has been studied extensively in both benign and malignant thyroid diseases and is often impaired as compared to the general population ( 10 , 11 , 12 ). Thyroid surgery negatively affects short-term HRQoL, recovering as the time since surgery passes ( 10 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 ). The consequences of surgery, including long-term postoperative thyroid hormone substitution therapy, potential voice changes, scar cosmesis, and surgical complications such as permanent hypoparathyroidism and vocal cord paralysis, also impair HRQoL ( 10 , 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 ).…”

Health-related quality of life analysis in differentiated thyroid carcinoma patients after thyroidectomy

“…Quality of life is the perception of individuals in the context of cultures and value systems in which they live and the state of quality of life is associated with their goals, expectations, standards, and concerns 24 . HRQoL is a multidimensional concept that includes physiological functions, psychological functions, role activities, social adaptability and overall feelings about health 25 . The SF-36 is a universal scale with eight domains for life quality assessment used in tumor patients and the control population.…”

Revisiting the role of surgery in the treatment of Graves’ disease

“…They found only half of the patients who started ATD for initial treatment would avoid definitive treatment and only 40% would not need thyroid medication to achieve a euthyroid state. Moreover, studies focusing on QoL have all reported improved QoL following surgery 36–38 . Scerrino et al 36 compared the QoL results of 57 patients undergoing surgery for GD to a control group of patients using ATD.…”

“…Moreover, studies focusing on QoL have all reported improved QoL following surgery. [36][37][38] Scerrino et al 36 compared the QoL results of 57 patients undergoing surgery for GD to a control group of patients using ATD. Patients following surgery demonstrated significant improvement in all fields assessed in the questionnaire.…”