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Health-related quality of life in acromegalic subjects: data from AcroBel, the Belgian Registry on acromegaly

Department of Endocrinology, Ghent University Hospital, De Pintelaan 185, 9000 Gent, Belgium, ¹ Department of Endocrinology, UZ Leuven, Herestraat 49, 3000 Leuven, Belgium, ² Department of Endocrinology, UCL St Luc Brussels, Avenue Hippocrate 10, 1200 Brussels, Belgium, ³ Department of Endocrinology, AZ VUB Brussels, Laarbeeklaan 101, 1090 Brussels, Belgium and ⁴ Department of Endocrinology, University of Antwerp, Wilrijkstraat 10, 2650 Edegem, Belgium

(Correspondence should be addressed to G T’Sjoen; Email: guy.tsjoen{at}ugent.be)

Objective: To assess the impairment of quality of life (QoL), evaluated by the acromegaly QoL (AcroQoL) questionnaire, in patients with controlled and uncontrolled acromegaly.

Design: Cross-sectional evaluation of AcroBel, a national observational registry of acromegalic patients newly diagnosed or in follow-up.

Methods: Disease perception by the patients was evaluated by the disease-specific signs and symptoms score (SSS) and QoL was assessed by the AcroQoL questionnaire. Hormonal status was determined by central measurements of GH and IGF-I.

Results: Patients (n = 291) had a median GH of 1.43 µg/l (0.65–3.03; IQR), a median IGF-I of 231 µg/l (150–367), and a mean IGF-I z-score of +1.91 (S.D. 2.21). The AcroQoL total score in the whole group was 67.1 (51.1–78.4), with a score of 65.6 (43.8–78.1) for the physical dimension, 67.9 (53.6–80.4) for the psychological dimension, 78.6 (64.3–89.3) for personal relations and 57.1 (39.3–75) for appearance. The median SSS was 3 (1–5). There was a negative correlation between both questionnaires (r = –0.478; P < 0.001). There was no correlation between AcroQoL score and biochemical markers of disease activity. When subdividing patients into groups of biochemical control according to GH and IGF-I levels, no difference could be established for either SSS or AcroQoL scores.

Conclusions: The AcroQoL results from the AcroBel registry confirm the marked impairment of the patients’ QoL, especially in relation with appearance. A negative correlation between AcroQoL and SSS was confirmed. There was, however, no correlation between AcroQoL and biochemical markers of disease activity.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. Bex, R. Abs, G. T'Sjoen, J. Mockel, B. Velkeniers, K. Muermans, and D. Maiter AcroBel the Belgian registry on acromegaly: a survey of the 'real-life' outcome in 418 acromegalic subjects Eur. J. Endocrinol., October 1, 2007; 157(4): 399 - 409. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]