Executive functioning and quality of life in acromegaly

Abstract

IntroductionActive acromegaly is a rare chronic endocrine disorder caused by excessive growth hormone (GH). Clinical studies suggest that cognitive performance is impaired in acromegaly – particularly executive function as well as short- and long-term memory. This study compared the quality of life (QoL) and executive functioning in acromegaly patients vs healthy controls.Materials and methodsThis was an observational case–control study on 38 subjects divided into 19 acromegaly patients and 19 matched controls. The groups were evaluated for QoL, attention, and executive function. All subjects completed Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (AcroQoL), Trail Making Test (parts A and B), Stroop, and phonemic fluency tests.ResultsAcromegaly patients had an AcroQoL global score that was significantly lower than controls. There were significant differences between the acromegaly group and the control group in terms of the physical effects (P=0.001) and appearance (P<0.001) but not for personal relationships (P=0.421). Acromegaly patients performed worse in the trail making test part B. They provided significantly fewer words than healthy subjects in phonemic fluency testing. Although patients performed generally worse than controls, no significant differences were noted in the trail making test part A, Stroop test, and the constrained phonemic fluency.ConclusionAcromegaly patients display worse executive functioning than healthy controls and have a decreased QoL.

Quality of Life in Patients with Acromegaly – a Romanian Single Center Cross-Sectional Study

“…We observed that patients with acromegaly had a decreased quality of life, compared to controls in all dimensions of the questionnaire, in opposition with the study of Solomon et al, who did not find any difference in the personal relationships subscale (11).…”

The effect of treatment on quality of life in patients with acromegaly: a prospective study

“…In accordance with previous studies, Appearance was the most affected AcroQoL scale with the lowest scores both before and after treatment (7,14,16), and the subscale Relations was the less affected scale in these patients (56).…”

Quality of life in patients with acromegaly receiving lanreotide autogel: a real-world observational study

“…For example, in a study from Romania, the mean total AcroQoL was ~76 in healthy people and 61 in patients with acromegaly [20]. In another study, among patients with a "severe" reduction of QoL, the mean total AcroQoL was higher than in our study (AcroQoL, ~57) [3].…”