Utilização da ferramenta AcroQoL na avaliação da qualidade de vida de pacientes acromegálicos acompanhados no Centro de Especialidades Médicas do Cesupa – CEMEC

Abstract

Acromegaly is a rare chronic disease often caused by a GH-secreting pituitary tumor, and is associated with enlarged extremities, multiple organ dysfunction, physical limitations, decreased daily productivity, social isolation, and worsening quality of life. To evaluate the health-related quality of life in patients with acromegaly in a specialized outpatient clinic in the Amazon from January 2021 to August 2022. This is an observational and cross-sectional study with quantitative analysis, carried out at the Hypophysis and Adrenal Outpatient Clinic of the Centro de Especialidades Médicas do Centro Universitário do Estado do Pará (CEMEC - CESUPA), using the AcroQoL health-related quality of life questionnaire. Sociodemographic, clinical, and therapeutic data were correlated with the scores obtained, using specific statistical tests executed in Bioestat 5.5 software. Data were organized in Microsoft Excel 2010 software. Graphs and tables were constructed with the tools available in the Microsoft Word, Excel and GraphPad Prism 8.4.2 programs. Results with p ≤ 0.05 (two-sided) were considered statistically significant. Most of the patients in the sample were female with age ranging from 24 to 74 years. Most patients had pituitary macroadenomas and metabolic complications. Higher AcroQoL scores were observed in patients who were regular practitioners of physical activities; furthermore, there was no relationship between biochemical control of the disease and AcroQoL scores. Conclusion: In the present study, it was possible to realize the importance of using tools such as the AcroQoL to analyze health-related factors and their impacts on the quality of life of acromegalic patients. The findings of the study show the importance of stimulating the practice of physical activities and the adoption of healthy life habits. Evidencing the need for a multidisciplinary approach to achieve not only biochemical control but also an improvement in health-related quality of life.