“Real life” utility of the Graves’ ophthalmopathy-quality of life in a multidisciplinary thyroid eye disease service
File(s)
Author(s)
Virdee, Simrun
Moledina, Malik
Lee, Vickie
Type
Journal Article
Abstract
Purpose:
This study aimed to describe the correlation of demographic and clinical factors with the Graves’ ophthalmopathy-quality of life (GO-QOL) visual function (VF) and appearance (A) scores in a cohort attending a metropolitan multidisciplinary thyroid eye disease (TED) service.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional retrospective study of 152 consecutive TED patients who completed the GO-QOL questionnaire. Clinical parameters, including endocrine diagnosis and status, TED activity and severity, Gorman diplopia score, and TED treatments were recorded at the time of completing each questionnaire and retrospectively analyzed.
Results:
A total of 257 GO-QOL questionnaires were completed over 32 months, with 59 patients providing sequential responses. The mean age was 50.0 ± 13.1 years, 77.0% (117/152) were female and 52.0% (79/152) were Caucasian. Graves’ disease was present in 86.2% (131/152) of participants, and 91.4% (139/152) were euthyroid at the time of the questionnaire. The mean time since TED onset was 2.5 years (range: 0.25–180 months). The mean ± standard deviation GO-QOL scores in the mild, moderate-to-severe, and sight-threatening disease cohorts for VF were 92.2 ± 15.2, 70.9 ± 28.6, and 56.6 ± 29.6, respectively, and for A were 79.1 ± 22.3, 48.2 ± 29.7, and 66.1 ± 35.3, respectively. VF and A scores were inversely correlated with clinical activity scores. Both scores improved postimmunosuppression but only A scores improved following decompression and rehabilitation surgery. Females and younger patients had lower A but not VF scores. East Asians and Caucasians had higher VF and A scores than African-Caribbeans.
Conclusion:
The GO-QOL’s granularity highlights the diverse functional and psychosocial experiences of TED patients, underscoring the need to integrate this valuable but underutilized tool into routine clinical practice.
This study aimed to describe the correlation of demographic and clinical factors with the Graves’ ophthalmopathy-quality of life (GO-QOL) visual function (VF) and appearance (A) scores in a cohort attending a metropolitan multidisciplinary thyroid eye disease (TED) service.
Methods:
This is a cross-sectional retrospective study of 152 consecutive TED patients who completed the GO-QOL questionnaire. Clinical parameters, including endocrine diagnosis and status, TED activity and severity, Gorman diplopia score, and TED treatments were recorded at the time of completing each questionnaire and retrospectively analyzed.
Results:
A total of 257 GO-QOL questionnaires were completed over 32 months, with 59 patients providing sequential responses. The mean age was 50.0 ± 13.1 years, 77.0% (117/152) were female and 52.0% (79/152) were Caucasian. Graves’ disease was present in 86.2% (131/152) of participants, and 91.4% (139/152) were euthyroid at the time of the questionnaire. The mean time since TED onset was 2.5 years (range: 0.25–180 months). The mean ± standard deviation GO-QOL scores in the mild, moderate-to-severe, and sight-threatening disease cohorts for VF were 92.2 ± 15.2, 70.9 ± 28.6, and 56.6 ± 29.6, respectively, and for A were 79.1 ± 22.3, 48.2 ± 29.7, and 66.1 ± 35.3, respectively. VF and A scores were inversely correlated with clinical activity scores. Both scores improved postimmunosuppression but only A scores improved following decompression and rehabilitation surgery. Females and younger patients had lower A but not VF scores. East Asians and Caucasians had higher VF and A scores than African-Caribbeans.
Conclusion:
The GO-QOL’s granularity highlights the diverse functional and psychosocial experiences of TED patients, underscoring the need to integrate this valuable but underutilized tool into routine clinical practice.
Date Issued
2025-11-01
Date Acceptance
2025-03-03
Citation
Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, 2025, 41 (6), pp.688-700
ISSN
0740-9303
Publisher
Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins
Start Page
688
End Page
700
Journal / Book Title
Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Volume
41
Issue
6
Copyright Statement
Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the American Society of Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Inc. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (CCBY), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
License URL
Identifier
10.1097/IOP.0000000000002950
Publication Status
Published
Date Publish Online
2025-04-16