Table 2.
Patient-reported habits, experiences, and preferences concerning fasting LT4 ingestion
| N | 410 |
|---|---|
| Patient-reported timing of LT4 ingestion | |
| 30-60 min before breakfast, n (%) | 275 (67.1) |
| < 30 min before breakfast, n (%) | 92 (22.4) |
| Together with breakfast, n (%) | 32 (7.8) |
| Before bedtime, at night, or alternating ingestion methods, n (%) |
11 (2.7) |
| Patient-reported experiences and preferences | |
| Received instruction on fasting ingestion, n (%) | 367 (89.5) |
| Considered fasting ingestion as postponing breakfast, n (%) | 248 (60.5) |
| Preferred ingestion together with breakfast, n (%) | 248 (60.5) |
| Burdened with postponing breakfast, n (%) | 203 (49.5) |
| Level of burdena | 7 [6-8] |
| Patient-reported adverse effects because of fasting LT4 ingestion | |
| Omitting breakfast, n (%) | 102 (24.9) |
| Forgetting LT4, n (%) | 55 (13.4) |
| Patient-reported use of co-medication | 138 (33.7) |
| Potentially interfering drugs, n (%) | 85 (61.6) |
| Received instruction on separating interfering drugs, n (%) | 27 (31.8) |
| Timing of ingestion | |
| Together with LT4, n (%) | 57 (67.1) |
| ≤ 1 h before/after LT4, n (%) | 17 (20.0) |
| ≥ 4 h before/after LT4, n (%) | 11 (12.9) |
| Patient-reported QoL | |
| Health scoreb | 70 [60-80] |
| Thyroid disease negatively affected QoL, n (%)c | 254 (62.0) |
Values are presented as n (%) or median [interquartile range]. The definition of interfering drugs is provided in the Methods section.
Abbreviations: LT4, levothyroxine; QoL, quality of life.
a Reported on a 10-point Likert scale (0, no burden; 10, severe burden).
b Reported on a 0 to 100 visual analogue scale; question (“How good is your health today?”) derived from the EQ-5D instrument.
c Thyroid-specific QoL question (“Did your thyroid disease negatively affected your QoL in the previous month?”) derived from the ThyPRO-39 questionnaire.