Purpose

Patients with thyroid cancer are often assumed to have no quality of life (QOL) impairments after treatment because of thyroid cancer’s good prognosis. However, the QOL implications of surgical complications and the necessity to take lifelong medication are seldom assessed.

Methods

Patients who had surgery due to thyroid cancer at the University Medical Center Mainz between 2010 and 2015 and who had calcium or parathyroid hormone levels below the reference values immediately following surgery were eligible for this study. QOL was assessed using the EORTC QLQ-C30 and the thyroid cancer module EORTC QLQ-THY34. Multiple logistic regression was used to determine factors associated with a worse QOL compared with a general population.

Results

A total of 75 (56%) of 134 eligible patients participated in the study. Patients with persistent/prolonged calcium or vitamin D intake reported worse QOL in the domains of global health, physical functioning, role functioning, emotional functioning, and insomnia than patients without current intake. Current calcium and vitamin D intake, higher education, living with a partner, and age had an effect on the odds of having worse QOL than the age- and sex-adjusted general population.

Conclusion

Prolonged calcium and/or vitamin D intake are negatively associated with certain domains of QOL in thyroid cancer patients who are at least 1 year post surgery. Assessment of calcium and vitamin D and diagnosis of hypoparathyroidism are therefore important for the follow-up of thyroid cancer survivors since it may affect their QOL.

中文翻译：

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甲状腺癌手术后1年以上患者的生活质量。

目的

由于甲状腺癌的良好预后，通常认为甲状腺癌患者在治疗后没有生活质量（QOL）障碍。但是，很少评估手术并发症对生活质量的影响以及服用终身药物的必要性。

方法

在2010年至2015年间因美因兹大学医学中心进行甲状腺癌手术且术后钙或甲状旁腺激素水平低于参考值的患者符合这项研究的条件。使用EORTC QLQ-C30和甲状腺癌模块EORTC QLQ-THY34评估生活质量。与一般人群相比，使用多元逻辑回归确定与较差的生活质量有关的因素。

结果

134名合格患者中共有75名（56％）参加了研究。钙/维生素D摄入量持续/延长的患者在全球健康，身体机能，角色功能，情绪功能和失眠方面的生活质量较未摄入当前水平的患者差。当前的钙和维生素D摄入量，受过高等教育，与伴侣生活在一起以及年龄对生活质量较年龄和性别调整后的总人口更差的几率产生影响。

结论

在手术后至少一年的甲状腺癌患者中，延长的钙和/或维生素D摄入量与某些QOL域负相关。因此，评估钙和维生素D以及诊断甲状旁腺功能低下对于甲状腺癌幸存者的随访很重要，因为它可能会影响他们的生活质量。