The Influence Factors Of Quality-of-life In Patients With Thyroid-associated Ophthalmopathy

ObjectiveAssessing risk factors associated with decreased quality-of-life in patients with thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy(TAO).MethodsCross-sectional study.One hundred and twelve patients with TAO and 68 controls were recruited to answer the Graves’ ophthalmopathy quality-of-life questionnaire(GO-QOL)from January 2014 to April 2016.The GO-QOL includes two subscales:the visual functioning and the psychosocial consequences.The differences in the GO-QOL scores between TAO patients and controls were analyzed.The influences of multiple factors on the GO-QOL scores among TAO patients were explored.ResultsAmong 112 TAO patients,63 were male and 49 were female,with an average age of(45.4±13.1)years.Among 68 controls,36 were male and 32 were female,with an average age of(39.5±10.8)years.Independent sample t test showed that,TAO patients had significantly lower scores than controls in the visual functioning subscale and the psychosocial consequences subscale(55.63±29.02 vs 97.48±6.96,t=-14.58,P<0.01;57.61 ±29.97 vs 100±0.00,t=-14.97,P<0.01);Among TAO patients,smokers were associated with significantly lower psychological subscale scores than non-smokers(t=-2.284,P=0.024),patients with abnormal primary position of eye scored significantly lower than those with normal alignment in functional(t=-3.979,P<0.01)and psychological subscales(t=-2.154,P=0.034),and patients with abnormal eye movement had significantly lower functional scores than those without(t=-2.975,P=0.004).One-way analysis of variance showed that higher CAS scores were significantly related to lower psychological subscale scores(F=3.178,P=0.018),and patients with upper eyelid retraction had significantly lower psychological subscale scores than those without(F=3.562,P=0.032).Pearson correlation analysis showed that age was negatively correlated with functional subscale scores(r=-0.366;P<0.01),TAO course was negatively correlated with functional(r=-0.235,P<0.05)and psychological subscale scores(r=-0.320,P<0.01),and degree of exophthalmos was negatively correlated with psychological subscale scores(r=-0.209,P<0.01).Multivariable linear regression analysis showed that only primary position of eye(P=0.013)and TAO course(P=0.007)were negatively correlated with functional subscale scores,and only CAS scores(P=0.022)and TAO course(P=0.024)were negatively correlated with psychological subscale scores.ConclusionRisk factors associated with lower quality-of-life among TAO patients included abnormal primary position of eye,higher CAS scores,and longer TAO course.