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Endocrine Abstracts (2016) 44 S1.3 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.44.S1.3

SFEBES2016 Symposia Challenges in pituitary disease (3 abstracts)

Quality of life in patients with pituitary disease

Niki Karavitaki 1,


1Institute of Metabolism and Systems Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK; 2Centre for Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, Birmingham Health Partners, Birmingham, UK.


Pituitary disease covers a wide spectrum of conditions associated with considerable physical, psychological and cognitive manifestations, a number of which persist even after successful treatment of the pituitary gland disorder.

Quality of life (QoL) is defined as ‘the functional effect of an illness and its consequent therapy upon a patient, as perceived by the patient’’. In the last years, the area of QoL in patients with pituitary disease has received significant attention and the relevant literature has expanded confirming the negative impact of hypothalamo-pituitary pathology on this aspect. These findings have been revealed by generic, as well as disease-specific questionnaires. Notably, impaired QoL (as compared with controls) has been reported even in patients with functioning pituitary adenomas which have achieved remission after treatment. The factors contributing to the impaired QoL have not been established and proposed predictors include age, gender, tumour recurrence, non-replaced hypogonadism or growth hormone, visual field defects, previous radiotherapy and delays in diagnosis. Further parameters requiring exploration include negative illness perceptions, negative beliefs about medications or needs not covered by the packet of care offered.

The development of more comprehensive and disease-specific questionnaires, as well as adequately powered studies involving patients affected by all pituitary disorders will provide further insight in this field, will allow identification of factors predisposing to compromised QoL and will lead to measures aiming to minimize the disease burden for the individual, his/her family and social environment and for the health care system.

Volume 44

Society for Endocrinology BES 2016

Brighton, UK
07 Nov 2016 - 09 Nov 2016

Society for Endocrinology 

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