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Growth Hormone Related Diseases and Therapy pp 237–250Cite as

Quality of Life in Acromegaly and Growth Hormone Deficiency

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Part of the book series: Contemporary Endocrinology ((COE))

Abstract

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) is considered an outcome measure in the evaluation of adults with acromegaly and GH deficiency (AGHD), after the unexpected observation of improvement in mood and vitality in initial trials with GH replacement over two decades ago. HRQoL is measured with questionnaires designed to be used for general population or any type of disease (generic questionnaires) or aimed at the specific dimensions affected in a determined condition (disease-generated or specific questionnaires). The latter are more likely to identify impairments related to the underlying disease and benefits of treatment. Examples of disease-generated HRQoL questionnaires are the AcroQoL (for acromegaly), AGHDA (adult GH deficiency assessment), or QLS-H (Questions on Life Satisfaction-Hypopituitarism) questionnaires (for AGHD) and permit further insight into the dimensions most affected in these diseases. These instruments are useful tools for both clinical research and daily practice, since hormone and imaging results do not always correlate with the patients’ well-being. Acromegalic patients exhibit severe impairment of HRQoL, which, despite improvement after successful therapy, often remains below normal reference values. The most affected dimension is appearance, suggesting that an earlier diagnosis, before irreversible morphological changes have occurred, would be beneficial. HRQoL is worse in treated acromegaly, which has rendered them GH-deficient, than in those with controlled disease who are GH-sufficient. HRQoL is severely impaired in AGHD also, but improves and may normalize after GH replacement therapy and is maintained over several years; the most affected dimension is vitality. Therapeutic outcomes can now be evaluated by clinicians for HRQoL and may show how adverse effects of the disease on QoL often persist despite successful treatment from an endocrine point of view. Awareness of this is important to prevent inappropriate expectations with respect to the long-term results of treatment in patients with pituitary adenomas. HRQoL in these chronic endocrine diseases can be used as an outcome measure for clinical and therapeutic evaluation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Endocrinology Medicine, Hospital Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and CIBERER (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Raras) Unit 747, Barcelona, Spain

    Susan M. Webb

  2. Department of Endocrinology Medicine, Hospital Sant Pau, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and CIBERER (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Raras), Barcelona, Spain

    Eugenia Resmini & Alicia Santos

  3. Health Economics and Outcomes Research, IMS Health, and CIBERER (Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red en Enfermedades Raras), Barcelona, Spain

    Xavier Badia

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  1. Susan M. Webb
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  2. Eugenia Resmini
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  3. Alicia Santos
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  4. Xavier Badia
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Correspondence to Susan M. Webb .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Princess Alexandra Hospital &, The University of Queensland, Centres for Health Research, Ipswich Road Woolloongabba 199, Brisbane, 4102, Queensland, Australia

    Ken Ho

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Webb, S.M., Resmini, E., Santos, A., Badia, X. (2011). Quality of Life in Acromegaly and Growth Hormone Deficiency. In: Ho, K. (eds) Growth Hormone Related Diseases and Therapy. Contemporary Endocrinology. Humana Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-317-6_12

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