title: Assessing health-related quality of life in patients with benign non-toxic goitre.
abstract: Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) assessments are increasingly used to evaluate treatment effects and to shape the delivery of value based care. Valid generic and disease specific tools are available for quantifying HRQoL in patients with non-toxic goitre. However, few studies have applied these validated instruments to assess HRQoL in patients with benign non-toxic goitre. Limited evidence suggests that patients with non-toxic goitre have HRQoL impairments in multiple HRQoL domains. While the HRQoL-impact of non-toxic goitre may be small relative to other severely disabling medical conditions, treatment is almost exclusively elected for HRQoL indications. Thus better quantification of HRQoL, particularly at better (or more favorable) levels where many patients score, is essential. Web and mobile technologies have eased the ability to deliver surveys to patients. Routine consideration of HRQoL provides the opportunity to monitor the impact of treatment on the outcomes most meaningful for patients and the opportunity to help shape the delivery of value based health care.
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: torquil.watt@regionh.dk.
authors.forename: Torquil
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Watt
authors.affiliation: Department of Endocrinology, Copenhagen University Hospital Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark. Electronic address: per.cramon@regionh.dk.
authors.forename: Per
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Cramon
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. Electronic address: daniel.frendl@umassmed.edu.
authors.forename: Daniel M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Frendl
authors.affiliation: Department of Quantitative Health Sciences, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. Electronic address: john.ware@umassmed.edu.
authors.forename: John E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Ware
mesh_terms: D006042:Goiter / Q000523:psychology / Q000628:therapy*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D011788:Quality of Life; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D057566:Self Report; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome
keywords: non-toxic goitre; patient-reported outcome measure; quality of life