Health-related quality of life in thyroid cancer survivors

Objective. The study objective was to study the impact of the diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of differentiated thyroid cancer (DTC) on the quality of life and related issues in an urban multi-ethnic Asian population. Design: A self-administered questionnaire containing the Short Form 36 Health Survey (SF-36) and assessing sociodemographic, disease, and treatment-related status was mailed to patients with DTC. Main Outcomes: One hundred fifty-two (52.4%) of 290 patients answered the questionnaire. There was a statistically significant decrease in SF-36 scores between thyroid cancer survivors and the general population in all domains except for social functioning (SF). Physical functioning (PF) was worse in those survivors who were aged 50 years or older. Mental health (MH) scores were better in those who had more than 12 years of formal education. Being employed had a positive influence on role physical (RP) and role emotional (RE) scores. Being of Malay/Indian ethnicity strongly correlated with lower scores in bodily pain (BP), SF, RE and MH domains. Conclusion: Although most patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer have near normal life expectancy, our study has shown that there is a significant decrease in their quality of life, especially in the elderly and poorer educated. Returning to work should be encouraged to improve the quality of life in DTC survivors.