Effect of long-term treatment on subjective problems of patients with common thyroid gland disorders in the Czech Republic

Prague Med Rep. 2010;111(3):219-28.

Abstract

In this study, a total of 364 patients of the Endocrinology outpatient clinic who had undergone thyreopathy treatment of various lengths were investigated. The objective of the study was to find out the consequences of thyroid gland disorder on a person's life, and whether the treatment length has any effect on subjective problems of patients. Common problems reported by patients were evaluated; the final number of such "common problems" in the final stage of the research was 56. In order to achieve better orientation in the processing of results, the patient-described types of disorders were classified according to the patients' own opinions into the following groups: eufunctional thyroid gland, inflammation, hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, tumour and surgery. The fact is that in the first year of treatment, almost half of all patients with a thyroid gland disorder experienced some problems caused by the disease. It is not a favourable finding that in the upcoming years, i.e. from 2 to 10 years, the number of those with problems will increase to as much as 61%. The period of treatment between 11 and 15 years means a decrease in the occurrence of problems to 50%, but with the number of patients with problems increasing, their number becomes even higher than that in the period of 2 to 10 years. Influence of aging processes should be also taken into account.

MeSH terms

  • Adult
  • Humans
  • Hyperthyroidism / complications
  • Hyperthyroidism / therapy
  • Hypothyroidism / complications
  • Hypothyroidism / therapy
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Thyroid Diseases / complications*
  • Thyroid Diseases / therapy