Differentiated thyroid cancer: effect on quality of life, depression, and anxiety.

ABSTRACT

CONTEXT Thyroid cancer is the most common endocrine cancer, the lifelong risk for which is approximately 1%. Despite favorable prognosis and well-tolerated treatment modalities, numerous studies have shown that thyroid cancer survivors have impaired health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Patients are also more frequently affected by depression and anxiety. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to evaluate HRQoL, depression, and anxiety status in female patients with DTC. DESIGN, SUBJECTS, AND METHODS: We compared HRQoL, depression, and anxiety status in 114 female thyroid cancer survivors with 110 healthy subjects via a cross-sectional design. For this purpose, we utilized short-form 36 (SF-36), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI). RESULTS: The majority of the patients (82%) were stage I. Fifty-seven patients (51%) received radioiodine treatment. Regarding HRQoL, depression, and anxiety between groups, thyroid cancer survivors did worse on every aspect of SF-36 than the control group (p < 0.05). Thyroid cancer survivors had higher BDI and BAI scores (p < 0.05). In those receiving RAI, the dose of RAI, lymph node dissection, and tumor stage did not affect SF-36, depression, and anxiety scores. Duration since diagnosis also did not affect results. CONCLUSION: Our study further confirms the observation that survivors of DTC have impaired HRQoL. Furthermore, they are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression.