Assessment of Quality of Life and Depression in Korean Patients with Graves' Ophthalmopathy

PURPOSE To assess quality of life and depressive status in Korean patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy. METHODS A cross-sectional study of 49 patients (mean age, 41 years; sex ratio, M:F=11:38) with Graves' ophthalmopathy (referred to as the Graves' group) and 48 age-matched and sex-matched controls (mean age, 40.2 years; sex ratio, M:F=11:37) was performed using the Korean version of the 36-item Short-Form General Health Survey (SF-36) questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Survey data was compared among patients with mild, moderately severe, and sight-threatening Graves' ophthalmopathy and between patients with low (0 or 1) or high (2 or 3) Gorman scores. RESULTS Those in the Graves' group scored significantly lower on all categories of the SF-36, as compared to the control group (p<0.05). The 4 patients with sight-threatening Graves' had significantly lower scores for physical functioning, role limitations due to physical health, and the physical component summary of the SF-36, when compared with the 28 patients with mild Graves' and the 17 patients with moderately severe Graves' (p<0.05). The 17 patients in the high Gorman score group had lower physical component summary scores than the 32 patients in the low Gorman score group (p=0.03). The 16 patients with BDI scores > or = 16 had significantly lower scores on the SF-36 and higher clinical activity scores, as compared to the 33 patients with BDI scores <16 (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Patients with Graves' ophthalmopathy had reduced health-related quality of life and were more likely to be depressed, especially those with a sight threatening condition or significant diplopia. It is important to identify these patients to provide the necessary psychological support.