Patients with surgically cured primary hyperparathyroidism have a reduced quality of life compared with population-based healthy sex-, age-, and season-matched controls.

OBJECTIVE

Primary hyperparathyroidism (PHPT) is associated with feelings of fatigue and depression, as well as limitation to physical and mental functioning. These quality of life (QoL) characteristics improve after parathyroidectomy. However, whether former patients fully regain QoL compared with healthy controls is largely unknown.

DESIGN AND PATIENTS: Cross-sectional study. Fifty-one former PHPT patients, successfully treated by surgery (mean time since parathyroidectomy 7.4 (range 5-15) years), and 51 sex- and age-matched healthy controls.

METHODS

The 36-item Short-Form Health Survey version 2 and the WHO-Five Well-being Index. The surveys included questions on overall physical and mental health, functioning, and limitation in daily life activities.

RESULTS

Former patients scored significantly lower compared with controls in physical functioning (P=0.01), role limitation caused by emotional problems (P=0.01), vitality (P<0.001), and general health (P=0.01). Compared with the controls, cases had a lower median (interquartile range) score of physical component summary (PCS; 54.9 (47.9-58.7) vs 49.6 (45.2-55.9), P=0.03) and mental component summary (MCS; 55.4 (49.7-58.1) vs 52.5 (44.7-55.5), P=0.04). There was no association between time since operation and PCS or MCS. Compared with controls, cases had higher body mass index (BMI; 26.0±4.7 vs 28.8±6.0 kg/m(2), P<0.001) and a higher frequency of cardiovascular diseases (CVD; 41.2 vs 62.7%, P=0.03). After adjustment for differences in BMI and CVD, PCS did no longer differ between groups. However, adjustments did not change the finding of a lower MCS in cases compared with controls.

CONCLUSION

Even though QoL may improve substantially after surgery, former PHPT patients still have reduced QoL compared with healthy controls.