Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2019 Oct;22(5):552-560.
doi: 10.1007/s11102-019-00966-8.

Arthropathy in acromegaly: a questionnaire-based estimation of motor disability and its relation with quality of life and work productivity

L M Fatti  1 , B Cangiano  1   2 , G Vitale  1   2 , L Persani  1   2 , G Mantovani  2   3 , E Sala  2   3 , M Arosio  2   3 , P Maffei  4 , F Dassie  4 , M Mormando  5 , A Giampietro  5 , L Tanda  6 , E R Masiello  6 , E Nazzari  7 , D Ferone  7 , S Corbetta  8   9 , E Passeri  9 , F Guaraldi  10 , S Grottoli  11 , S Cannavò  12   13 , M L T Torre  12 , D Soranna  14 , A Zambon  15 , F Cavagnini  16 , M Scacchi  17   18 ; Study Group on Motor Disability in Acromegaly of the Italian Society of Endocrinology
Affiliations

Arthropathy in acromegaly: a questionnaire-based estimation of motor disability and its relation with quality of life and work productivity

L M Fatti et al. Pituitary. 2019 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: Arthropathy is a common and disabling complication of acromegaly. Since in this condition radiological findings rarely correspond to functional impairment, we elected to quantify in a large cohort of acromegalic patients: the degree of motor disability compared with data from general population, the impact of joint involvement on quality of life and work productivity, and to look for associated factors.

Methods: In 211 acromegalic patients, 131 with controlled disease and 80 with active disease, eight validated scales were used to evaluate the (i) prevalence and distribution of arthropathy, (ii) degree of motor disability and joint symptoms (VAS, AIMS symptoms and WOMAC), (iii) quality of life (AcroQoL and PASQ) and work capability (WPAI:GH) as consequences of joint complications.

Results: Using the WOMAC questionnaire, for which population based normative values are available, a significantly higher prevalence and severity of motor disability was detected in acromegalics compared to the general population from literature. The results provided by the different questionnaires turned out to be highly concordant. All measures of motor disability correlated both with impaired quality of life and motor disability and were worse in females and in patients with higher BMI.

Conclusions: The questionnaires VAS, AIMS symptoms, and WOMAC (this latter both as a whole and with its functionality subscale), with their scores, proved to be the most adequate tools to evaluate motor disability and its consequences on both quality of life and work productivity in acromegaly. Female gender and higher BMI are associated with worse articular symptoms.

Keywords: Acromegaly; Articular impairment; Complication; Gender; Osteoarthritis; Rehabilitation.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Pharmacoeconomics. 1993 Nov;4(5):353-65 - PubMed
    1. N Engl J Med. 2000 Apr 20;342(16):1171-7 - PubMed
    1. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. 2003 Aug;11(8):551-60 - PubMed
    1. JAMA. 1963 Sep 21;185:914-9 - PubMed
    1. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2004 Feb;89(2):598-603 - PubMed