title: Quality of life assessment of growth hormone deficiency in adults (QoL-AGHDA): comparison of normative reference data for the general population of England and Wales with results for adult hypopituitary patients with growth hormone deficiency.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Age- and gender-specific reference values for the quality of life (QoL) measures used in assessing the impact of growth hormone deficiency (GHD) are important. The objective of this study was to develop such data for the QoL-AGHDA instrument for the population of England and Wales and to demonstrate the QoL deficit in patients with GHD.
  
  
  METHODS
  For the purpose of this study, a questionnaire was developed that contained the EurQoL EQ-5D, QoL-AGHDA, questions recording an individual's general situation and social functioning, and a self-reported five-point rating scale of general health. The questionnaire was mailed out to a sample of 1,190 individuals drawn from the general population of England and Wales. Corresponding data for 836 patients were retrieved from KIMS (Pfizer International Metabolic Database). The postal survey data were weighted to ensure that they were representative of the general population.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean weighted QoL-AGHDA scores for the general population were 6.2 and 7.1 for men and women, respectively, compared with 13.6 and 15.7 for patients. For both males and females the differences in mean QoL-AGHDA scores between the general population and patients were statistically significant for all age categories (p < 0.01). In the general population the mean QoL-AGHDA score for each category of self-assessed health status increased progressively, indicating a poorer QoL as health status declined.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study reports QoL-AGHDA normative values for the population of England and Wales and confirms the extent of QoL impairment in patients with GHD in comparison with the general population.
authors.affiliation: KIGS/KIMS/Acrostudy Medical Outcomes, Endocrine Care, Pfizer, Stockholm, Sweden. maria.koltowska-haggstrom@pfizer.com
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kołtowska-Haggstrom
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hennessy
authors.forename: Anders F
authors.initials: AF
authors.lastname: Mattsson
authors.forename: John P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Monson
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kind
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004739:England; D005260:Female; D019382:Human Growth Hormone / Q000172:deficiency*; D006801:Humans; D007018:Hypopituitarism / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life; D012016:Reference Values; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014852:Wales
chemical_list: D019382:Human Growth Hormone