A systematic review of quality of thyroid-specific health-related quality-of-life instruments recommends ThyPRO for patients with benign thyroid diseases

Carlos K H Wong; Brian H H Lang; Cindy L K Lam

doi:10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.03.006

A systematic review of quality of thyroid-specific health-related quality-of-life instruments recommends ThyPRO for patients with benign thyroid diseases

J Clin Epidemiol. 2016 Oct:78:63-72. doi: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.03.006. Epub 2016 Mar 26.

Authors

Carlos K H Wong¹, Brian H H Lang², Cindy L K Lam³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong, 3/F, Ap Lei Chau Clinic, 161 Ap Lei Chau Main Street, Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong. Electronic address: carlosho@hku.hk.
² Division of Endocrine Surgery, Department of Surgery, The University of Hong Kong, Queen Mary Hospital, 102 Pokfulam Road, Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong.
³ Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong, 3/F, Ap Lei Chau Clinic, 161 Ap Lei Chau Main Street, Ap Lei Chau, Hong Kong.

PMID: 27020087
DOI: 10.1016/j.jclinepi.2016.03.006

Abstract

Objectives: To appraise the measurement properties of thyroid-specific health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) instruments and to provide recommendations on the choice of HRQOL instruments.

Study design and setting: Systematic review of English-language literature published between 1993 and 2015 identified psychometric studies involving patients with thyroid disease through a search of Pubmed, Web of Science, Embase, and OVID MEDLINE. HRQOL instruments were graded on methodological quality and overall levels of evidence using a COSMIN checklist.

Results: After a review of 742 original studies, 23 studies reporting 14 standardized HRQOL instruments targeted for Graves' ophthalmopathy (n = 4), hypothyroidism (n = 3), thyroid cancer (n = 2), other thyroid disease (n = 3), and nonthyroid tumor sites (n = 2) were identified. Hypothesis testing was evaluated most frequently. The 84-item thyroid-specific patient-reported outcome measure (ThyPRO) and 16-item Graves' ophthalmopathy-specific Quality-of-Life (GO-QOL) instruments were the most extensively evaluated instrument. The highest number of positive ratings in overall level of psychometric evidence was found in ThyPRO, GO-QOL, and 11-item Thyroid Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire (ThyTSQ) instruments.

Conclusion: The ThyPRO is recommended for the assessment of HRQOL in patients with benign thyroid diseases while measurement properties of GO-QOL and ThyTSQ are satisfactory in measuring HRQOL of patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy and hypothyroidism, respectively.

Keywords: COSMIN; Measurement property; Psychometrics; Quality of life; Systematic review; Thyroid disease.

Publication types

Review
Systematic Review

MeSH terms

Humans
Patient Outcome Assessment*
Patient Satisfaction / statistics & numerical data*
Psychometrics
Quality of Life*
Surveys and Questionnaires*
Thyroid Diseases / epidemiology*