1. Changes in Swallowing-Related Quality of Life after Parathyroidectomy for Hyperparathyroidism: A Prospective Cohort Study.
- Author
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Pinchot, Scott N., Youngwirth, Linda, Rajamanickam, Victoria, Schaefer, Sarah, Sippel, Rebecca, and Chen, Herbert
- Subjects
PARATHYROID gland surgery ,ACADEMIC medical centers ,ANALYSIS of variance ,DEGLUTITION ,DEGLUTITION disorders ,HYPERPARATHYROIDISM ,LONGITUDINAL method ,EVALUATION of medical care ,QUALITY of life ,QUESTIONNAIRES ,RESEARCH funding ,STATISTICS ,DATA analysis ,PRE-tests & post-tests ,DATA analysis software ,DESCRIPTIVE statistics ,DISEASE complications - Abstract
Objective. To prospectively evaluate the impact of parathyroidectomy on swallowing-related quality of life using the Swallowing Quality Of Life (SWAL-QOL) validated outcomes assessment tool. Background. Many patients with primary hyperparathyroidism report nonspecific symptoms, such as fatigue, irritability, cognitive impairment, sleep disturbances, and dysphagia. To date, there have been no prospective studies evaluating swallowing function before and after parathyroid surgery. Methods. Patients undergoing parathyroidectomy from September 2007 to January 2009 completed the SWALQOL questionnaire before and one year after surgery.Data were collected on demographic and clinicopathologicvariables. Comparisons were made to determine the effect of surgery on patients' perceptions of swallowing function.Results. Of 151 eligible patients, 102 (68%) completed the study. The mean patient age was 60 years, and 79%were female. A total of 73 patients (67%) had minimally invasiveparathyroidectomies, whereas the remainder had bilateral explorations. In all, 83 patients (81%) had a parathyroidadenoma, 16 patients (16%) had hyperplasia, and3 patients (3%) had a double adenoma on final pathologicinterpretation. Mean preoperative SWAL-QOL scores were<90 for 4 of the 11 domains, indicating the perception of oropharyngeal dysphagia and diminished quality of life.Following parathyroidectomy, significant improvements were demonstrated in eight SWAL-QOL domains.Conclusions. Many patients with parathyroid disease have the perception of abnormal swallowing function. In these patients with symptoms of dysphagia, parathyroid surgery leads to significant improvements in many aspects of swallowing-related quality of life measured by the SWAL-QOL instrument. This study represents the first use of a condition-specific instrument to assess swallowingrelatedquality of life for patients with parathyroid disease before and after parathyroid surgery. The Oncologist 2012;17:1271-1276 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2012
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