Abstract
Purpose::
To describe general health-related quality of life (HRQL) in Graves’ Ophthalmopathy and to compare results for Graves’ ophthalmopathy patients compared to the general population.
Methods::
The SF-12 general health survey was self-administered to Graves’ ophthalmopathy patients in a tertiary care setting. Patient responses to individual items were converted to physical and mental standardized values, using standard methods. Physical Component Summary (PCS) and Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores were calculated and scores for male and female Graves’ ophthalmopathy subjects were compared using the Wilcoxon rank sum test. Scores for female Graves’ subjects were compared to scores for the general population using an unpaired t-test. The small number of male subjects precluded comparison to the general population using a parametric test.
Results::
37 Graves’ ophthalmopathy subjects (27 women, 10 men) with mean age 55.6 years completed the SF-12. Participants represented the full range of Graves’ ophthalmopathy disease severity. Female subjects had mean (SD) PCS score of 44.2 (9.8), and male subjects scored 45.7 (11.5). The difference in PCS by gender was not statistically significant (p= 0.47) Mean MCS scores were 43.1 (11.7) for women, compared to 50.8 (8.3) for men. This difference was not statistically significant (p= 0.09). Compared to the general population of same mean age, women with Graves’ ophthalmopathy scored a mean 2.6 (95% confidence interval -6.52 to 1.31) points lower on the PCS and 7.3 points lower (95% CI -11.95 to -2.65) on the MCS.
Conclusions::
Men and women with Graves’ ophthalmopathy have similar physical component SF-12 scores. There is a trend for women with Graves’ to have lower MCS scores than men, but the trend was not statistically significant, possibly due to small sample size. Women with Graves’ ophthalmopathy have statistically significantly lower MCS scores than the general population, but similar PCS scores. The lower MCS scores in women may reflect the emotional impact of altered physical appearance due to Graves’ ophthalmopathy. Studies to evaluate how SF-12 scores compare to scores on a Graves’ ophthalmopathy specific health-related quality of life instrument are underway.
Keywords: quality of life • orbit