title: Exercise is associated with better quality of life in patients on TSH-suppressive therapy with levothyroxine for differentiated thyroid carcinoma.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate if a supervised exercise training program improves the quality of life (QoL) of differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients on TSH-suppressive therapy with levothyroxine (L-T4).
  
  
  METHODS
  Initially, a cross-sectional study was performed to compare the QoL and the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) between subclinical hyperthyroidism (SCH) patients (n = 33) and euthyroid subjects (EU; n = 49). In the prospective phase of the study, SCH patients were randomized in a non-blinded fashion to either participate (SCH-Tr = trained patients; n = 16) or not (SCH-Sed = untrained patients; n = 17) in a supervised exercise training program. The exercise program consisted of 60 minutes of aerobic and stretching exercises, twice a week, during twelve weeks. The QoL was assessed by the application of the WHOQOL-Bref, and the SF-36 was used to assess the HRQoL.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SCH patients had statistically lower scores than EU on the "physical" domain of WHOQOL-Bref, besides "physical function", "role-physical", "bodily pain", "general health", "vitality", "role-emotional", and "mental-health" domains of SF-36. After three months, SCH-Tr patients showed improvement in the "physical" and "psychological" domains of WHOQOL-Bref (p < 0.05), and in the "physical function", "role-physical", "bodily pain", "vitality" and "mental health" domains of SF-36.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Patients on TSH-suppressive therapy with L-T4 for DTC had impaired QoL and HRQoL compared to EU, but it was improved after 3-months of an exercise training program. Exercise seems to play an important role in the follow-up of DTC patients, since it seems to minimize the adverse effects of the treatment on QoL and HRQoL.
authors.affiliation: Laboratório de Ergoespirometria e Cineantropometria, Escola de Educação Física e Desportos, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Patrícia dos Santos
authors.initials: Pdos S
authors.lastname: Vigário
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Endocrinologia, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Dhiãnah Santini de Oliveira
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Chachamovitz
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Endocrinologia, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Patrícia de Fátima dos Santos
authors.initials: Pde F
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Endocrinologia, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maíra de La
authors.initials: Mde L
authors.lastname: Rocque
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Endocrinologia, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Maryna Lobo dos
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.affiliation: Serviço de Endocrinologia, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil.
authors.forename: Mário
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaisman
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000097:blood; D002277:Carcinoma / Q000188:drug therapy*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004493:Education / Q000379:methods; D015444:Exercise; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006980:Hyperthyroidism / Q000188:drug therapy; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D058748:Pain Perception / Q000502:physiology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011788:Quality of Life; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013964:Thyroid Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy*; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood*; D013974:Thyroxine / Q000627:therapeutic use*
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D013972:Thyrotropin; D007453:Iodide Peroxidase; D013974:Thyroxine