Table 2.
Characteristics of patients with moderate-to-severe thyroid eye disease who had a higher and lower quality of life impact
| Patient characteristics | All patients (N = 714) | Overall QOL impact < 4 (n = 241) | Overall QOL impact ≥ 4 (n = 473) | P valuea |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number (%) of patients of an ophthalmologist | 432 (61) | 150 (62) | 282 (60) | 0.551 |
| Number (%) of women | 466 (65) | 157 (65) | 309 (65) | > 0.999 |
| Age, mean (SD), years | 49.4 (13.6) | 49.8 (14.5) | 49.2 (13.2) | 0.445 |
| Number (%) of euthyroid patients | 555 (78) | 185 (77) | 370 (78) | 0.728 |
| Number (%) of patients with Graves’ disease | 487 (68) | 162 (67) | 325 (69) | 0.749 |
| TED duration, mean (SD), years | 4.2 (5.1) | 5.0 (5.8) | 3.8 (4.7) | 0.006 |
| Clinical activity score, mean (SD)b | 2.3 (1.8) | 1.5 (1.5) | 2.7 (1.9) | < 0.001 |
| Number (%) of patients with severe disease | 102 (14) | 11 (5) | 91 (19) | < 0.001 |
| Number (%) of patients with mental health issuesc | 260 (36) | 77 (32) | 183 (39) | 0.092 |
| Number (%) of patients with anxiety | 188 (26) | 60 (25) | 128 (27) | 0.595 |
| Number (%) of patients with depression | 131 (18) | 35 (15) | 96 (20) | 0.075 |
aComparison between higher and lower QOL impact groups performed using 2-tailed Student’s t test or chi-square test as appropriate
bTED severity was reported by physicians as moderate or severe. TED activity for each patient was determined by calculating the clinical activity score (CAS), with 1 point given for each of the following signs/symptoms: pain in the primary gaze, pain with eye movement, eyelid swelling, eyelid redness, conjunctival swelling, conjunctival redness, and caruncle swelling. In this survey, data for caruncle swelling were not available and thus the CAS ranged from 1 to 6
cIndicates reporting of anxiety and/or depression