Evaluation of thyroid eye disease: quality-of-life questionnaire (TED-QOL) in Korean patients.
OBJECTIVE
To assess impaired quality of life (QOL) of Korean patients with thyroid eye disease (TED) using the TED-QOL questionnaire, to evaluate the adaptability of the questionnaire, and to assess the correlation between TED-QOL and scales of disease severity.


METHODS
Prospective, cross-sectional study.


METHODS
Total of 90 consecutive adult patients with TED and Graves' disease were included in this study.


METHODS
TED-QOL was translated into Korean and administered to the patients. The results were compared with clinical severity scores (clinical activity score, VISA (vision loss (optic neuropathy); inflammation; strabismus/motility; appearance/exposure) classification, modified NOSPECS (no signs or symptoms; only signs; soft tissue; proptosis; extraocular muscle; cornea; sight loss) score, Gorman diplopia scale, and European Group of Graves' Orbitopathy Classification).


RESULTS
Clinical scores indicating inflammation and strabismus in patients with TED were positively correlated with overall and visual function-related QOL (Spearman coefficient 0.21-0.38, p < 0.05). Clinical scores associated with appearance were positively correlated with appearance-related QOL (Spearman coefficient 0.26-0.27, p < 0.05). In multivariate analysis, age, soft-tissue inflammation, motility disorder of modified NOSPECS, and motility disorder of VISA classification had positive correlation with overall and function-related QOL. Sex, soft-tissue inflammation, proptosis of modified NOSPECS, and appearance of VISA classification had correlation with appearance-related QOL. In addition, validity of TED-QOL was proved sufficient based on the outcomes of patient interviews and correlation between the subscales of TED-QOL.


CONCLUSIONS
TED-QOL showed significant correlations with various objective clinical parameters of TED. TED-QOL was a simple and useful tool for rapid evaluation of QOL in daily outpatient clinics, which could be readily translated into different languages to be widely applicable to various populations.
Institute of Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Byeong Jae
BJ
Son
Institute of Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
Sang Yeul
SY
Lee
Institute of Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.. Electronic address: yoonjs@yuhs.ac.
Jin Sook
JS
Yoon
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D044466:Asian People / Q000208:ethnology; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D049970:Graves Ophthalmopathy / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D056910:Republic of Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014792:Visual Acuity / Q000502:physiology; D055815:Young Adult