"Real-Life" Utility of the Graves' Ophthalmopathy-Quality of Life in a Multidisciplinary Thyroid Eye Disease Service.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to describe the correlation of demographic and clinical factors with the Graves' ophthalmopathy-quality of life (GO-QOL) visual function (VF) and appearance (A) scores in a cohort attending a metropolitan multidisciplinary thyroid eye disease (TED) service.

METHODS

This is a cross-sectional retrospective study of 152 consecutive TED patients who completed the GO-QOL questionnaire. Clinical parameters, including endocrine diagnosis and status, TED activity and severity, Gorman diplopia score, and TED treatments were recorded at the time of completing each questionnaire and retrospectively analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 257 GO-QOL questionnaires were completed over 32 months, with 59 patients providing sequential responses. The mean age was 50.0 ± 13.1 years, 77.0% (117/152) were female and 52.0% (79/152) were Caucasian. Graves' disease was present in 86.2% (131/152) of participants, and 91.4% (139/152) were euthyroid at the time of the questionnaire. The mean time since TED onset was 2.5 years (range: 0.25-180 months). The mean ± standard deviation GO-QOL scores in the mild, moderate-to-severe, and sight-threatening disease cohorts for VF were 92.2 ± 15.2, 70.9 ± 28.6, and 56.6 ± 29.6, respectively, and for A were 79.1 ± 22.3, 48.2 ± 29.7, and 66.1 ± 35.3, respectively. VF and A scores were inversely correlated with clinical activity scores. Both scores improved postimmunosuppression but only A scores improved following decompression and rehabilitation surgery. Females and younger patients had lower A but not VF scores. East Asians and Caucasians had higher VF and A scores than African-Caribbeans.

CONCLUSION

The GO-QOL's granularity highlights the diverse functional and psychosocial experiences of TED patients, underscoring the need to integrate this valuable but underutilized tool into routine clinical practice.