Quality of life after total thyroidectomy measured with a specific validated questionnaire “QOL-CS Thyroid version”
General Medicine, 2025, 27(2), 9-17.
L. Dimov1,2, R. Dimova3, E. Vasileva4, A. Boyukliev1,4, B. Nonchev1,2
1 Department of Endocrinology, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University ‒ Plovdiv
2 Department of Endocrinology and Metabolic Diseases, UMHAT “Kaspela” ‒ Plovdiv
3 Department of Health Management and Health Economics, Faculty of Public Health, Medical University ‒ Plovdiv
4 Department of Propedeutics of Internal Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Medical University ‒ Plovdiv
Abstract.
Introduction: Health-related quality of life reflects the individual subjective understanding of their well-being as well as, various aspects of their life and health.
Objective: The aim of this study is to investigate the subjective assessment of physical, social, and psychological well-being in patients before and after total thyroidectomy.
Materials and Methods: In this study, the before-and-after design was used. The methodology was experimental, interventional, in which the quality of life of 62 patients with thyroid diseases is measured, employing the validated and adapted in Bulgarian language QOL-CS Thyroid version questionnaire, completed by the participants before and after they had a total thyroidectomy. Questions, related to the patient complaints before surgery and 6 months after surgery were added, resulting in two variants of the questionnaire formed QOL-CS Thyroid version-1 and QOL-CS Thyroid version-2.
Results: A total of 62 patients (47 women (76%) and 15 men) with thyroid disease who underwent total thyroidectomy were included in this interventional study. The median age was 51 ± 9.59 years. Neck complaints in most patients subsided after the intervention. In terms of the subjective sense of well-being, most significant improvement was noted in the patient physical condition (p < 0.001). Our results showed that after the intervention patients experienced some, but not significant improvement in their psychological and spiritual state. On the contrary, in the social domain, statistically significant differences were noted. Their quality of life changed significantly after starting treatment with levothyroxine.
Conclusion: The results indicate an improvement in the overall subjective assessment of quality of life after total thyroidectomy. The timely intervention by the general practitioners as well as by the specialists in the process of the treatment and recovery of patients after total thyroidectomy will reduce various complications and will improve the quality of life of these patients.
Key words: quality of life, thyroidectomy, questionnaire QOL-CS Thyroid version, well-being, thyroid cancer, multinodular goiter