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. 2022 Jan 10;11(1):e210379.
doi: 10.1530/EC-21-0379.

Low health-related quality of life in hypoparathyroidism and need for PTH analog

Georgios Kontogeorgos  1   2 , Zoi Mamasoula  1   2 , Emily Krantz  2   3 , Penelope Trimpou  2   4 , Kerstin Landin-Wilhelmsen  2   4 , Christine M Laine  2   5
Affiliations

Low health-related quality of life in hypoparathyroidism and need for PTH analog

Georgios Kontogeorgos et al. Endocr Connect. .

Abstract

Objective: Hypoparathyroidism (HypoPT) is a rare endocrine disorder in which insufficient levels of parathyroid hormone (PTH) lead to low serum calcium (S-Ca) levels and muscular cramps. The aim was to study the health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and comorbidities in patients with HypoPT compared with the general population and to estimate the need of treatment with PTH analog.

Design: Patients with HypoPT were identified and compared with a population sample. Short Form-36 (SF-36) and EuroQol-5 Dimensions Visual Analogue Scale questionnaires were used. All patients were followed up at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital outpatient clinic.

Methods: From the medical records between 2007 and 2020, 203 patients with HypoPT were identified and compared with a population sample (n = 414) from the World Health Organization's (WHO) MONICA project, Gothenburg, Sweden. Of the 203 patients who met the diagnostic criteria, 164 were alive and 65% answered the HRQoL questionnaires.

Results: Patients with HypoPT, 80% postsurgical, and controls had similar age (60 years) and sex distribution (80% women). Patients had lower SF-36 summary component scores for physical (40.0 (interquartile range (IQR): 21) vs 51.2 (IQR: 14.6); P < 0.001) and mental (43.1 (IQR:17.4) vs 56.1(IQR:13.3); P < 0.001) well-being, irrespective of etiology or calcium levels. Individuals with HypoPT had more medications and lower renal function but not higher mortality than controls. Low HRQoL together with low calcium was present in 23% of individuals with HypoPT.

Conclusion: HRQoL was markedly lower in patients with HypoPT than in controls and independent of S-Ca levels. Treatment with PTH analog could be considered at least among patients with both low HRQoL and low calcium levels.

Keywords: calcium; comorbidity; hypoparathyroidism; parathyroid hormone; quality of life.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flow chart depicting the search for the diagnoses of hypoparathyroidism and calcium aberrations according to the ICD 10.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Health-related quality of life according to the Short Form 36 (SF-36) and EuroQol-5 Dimensions Visual Analogue Scale (EQ5D-VAS) 0–100 in 106 patients with hypoparathyroidism and 414 controls from the population, the WHO MONICA study, Gothenburg, Sweden. *P = 0.009, **P = 0.001, and ***P < 0.001.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Patients with hypoparathyroidism were categorized according to their biochemical serum calcium levels (S-Ca), recommended/low, where low was considered S-Ca total <2.10 mmol/L, or S-Ca ion <1.10 mmol/L and high/low well-being was defined as <80 using EuroQol-5 Dimensions Visual Analogue Scale 0–100.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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