Quality of life in thyroid eye disease: impact of quality of care

Abstract

Thyroid eye disease (TED) is a chronic debilitating condition causing physical discomfort, facial disfigurement and impaired visual function. The physical consequences of TED could have a negative and lasting impact on patients' employment, hobbies and psychosocial function. In this review, we assess the evidence of the impact of TED on patients' quality of life (QOL) and also explore the effects of suboptimal quality of care on QOL of patients with this disease. It is hoped that recent initiatives, including the Amsterdam declaration, to raise the quality of care for patients with TED will help to improve their QOL.