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DOI: 10.1055/s-0030-1267912
© J. A. Barth Verlag in Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York
Are There Gender-Specific Differences Concerning Quality of Life in Treated Acromegalic Patients?
Publication History
received 19.07.2010
first decision 31.08.2010
accepted 01.10.2010
Publication Date:
28 October 2010 (online)

Abstract
Objective: Acromegaly is associated with deleterious comorbidities that can remain irreversible even after successful cure has been achieved and lead to a persistently impaired Quality of Life (QoL). The aim of the study was to assess frequency and degree of persistent comorbidities and complaints after treatment of acromegaly and to investigate their impact on QoL. Another scope of interest was to determine gender-specific factors that influence perceived QoL in men and women.
Methods: We developed an Acromegaly Comorbidities & Complaints Questionnaire (ACCQ) consisting of 8 items (e. g. acral enlargement, joint complaints, hypertension, diabetes) known to affect QoL in order to assess frequency and degree of comorbidities. Additionally, the Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (AcroQoL) and the Short-form 36 (SF-36) questionnaire were handed out to 55 treated acromegalic patients.
Results: Both genders suffer from a lasting impairment in quality of life to a considerable degree. Complaints impairing manual skills (e. g. acral enlargement, arthralgias) were the most frequent findings (73% of all participants) in both genders. Multivariate analyses revealed that in men numbness of fingers and persistent joint-complaints were decisively responsible for impaired QoL. In women, it was the persistence of hypertension.
Conclusions: Persistent joint complaints have adverse effects on QoL after treatment of acromegaly in men, possibly because they lead to impairment of manual motor skills and a handicap in their working life. Women seem to perceive late effects of hypertension as a manifest health threat.
Key words
comorbidities - complaints - quality of life - acromegaly - gender-differences
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APPENDIX


Correspondence
M. MilianMSc
Department of Neurosurgery
University Hospital Tuebingen
Hoppe-Seyler-Straße 3
72076 Tuebingen
Germany
Phone: +49/7071/29 81993
Fax: +49/7071/29 5245
Email: monika.milian@med.uni-tuebingen.de