Benchmarking health-related quality of life in thyroid cancer versus other cancers and United States normative data

Abstract

Background: Thyroid cancer survivors may experience long-lasting physical, psychosocial, and financial challenges. No previous studies have compared health-related quality of life in thyroid cancer survivors to United States normative data and patient-reported outcomes from other types of cancers. We hypothesized that thyroid cancer survivors would report health-related quality of life poorer than the general United States population but similar to individuals with other cancers.

Methods: Thyroid cancer survivors were recruited online January2017-June 2017. Individuals completed a two-part questionnaire to assess clinical characteristics and health-related quality of life, using the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System 29-item profile. Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System T-scores obtained from the literature were compared with United States normative data and T-scores from patients with breast, prostate, uterine, cervical, colorectal, non-Hodgkin lymphoma, and lung cancers.

Results: A total of 1,743 US respondents completed the survey. Thyroid cancer survivors reported statistically significantly worse health-related quality of life across all seven Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System domains compared with United States normative data (P < .05). Surveyed individuals reported statistically significantly worse scores for anxiety, depression, fatigue, and sleep disturbance than respondents from non-Hodgkin lymphoma, breast, colorectal, uterine, and prostate cancer cohorts (P < .01) but less pain and greater physical functioning than most other groups in this comparison (P < .01).

Conclusion: The importance of health-related quality of life among thyroid cancer survivors should not be obscured by the relatively high survival rate of thyroid cancer compared with other cancers. Our results demonstrate that thyroid cancer survivors may be encumbered with greater psychologic and social burdens than survivors of several cancers that have a worse prognosis.