Temperament, character, and quality of life in patients with acromegaly: factors affecting psychosocial processes

Kocaman Banu Betul; Yusuf Cicek; Cem Sulu; Ahmet Dogan; Serdar Sahin; Senol Turan; Pinar Kadioglu

doi:10.1530/endoabs.110.P942

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Endocrine Abstracts (2025) 110 P942 | DOI: 10.1530/endoabs.110.P942

ECEESPE2025 Poster Presentations Pituitary, Neuroendocrinology and Puberty (162 abstracts)

Temperament, character, and quality of life in patients with acromegaly: factors affecting psychosocial processes

Banu Betul Kocaman ¹ , Yusuf Cicek ² , Cem Sulu ¹ , Ahmet Dogan ³ , Serdar Sahin ¹ , Senol Turan ² & Pinar Kadioglu ¹

Author affiliations

¹Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes, Department of Internal Medicine, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Türkiye; ²Department of Psychiatry, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Türkiye; ³Department of Internal Medicine, Cerrahpasa Faculty of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpasa, Istanbul, Türkiye

JOINT1971

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the character and temperament dimensions in acromegaly patients, and to examine the effects of the disease and the treatments on depression, anxiety, and quality of life (QOL).

Methods: 77 acromegaly patients (41 women, 36 men) who were followed up in pituitary center and came for a check-up between 2023-2024 were included in the study. The patients filled out the Acroqol, Temperament and character inventory-revised (TCI-R), Hospital Anxiety and Depression scale. The patients’ age, gender, IGF-1 values, comorbidities and treatments were recorded.

Results: There was a positive correlation between age and anxiety scores (r=+0.228, P = 0.046), and in addition, higher anxiety levels were shown in female patients compared to male patients (7.8 ± 4.3 vs. 5.4 ± 3.6, P = 0.01) and in patients who underwent surgery compared to those who did not (7.1 ± 4.2 vs. 3.8 ± 3.1, P = 0.023). Depression scores were higher in patients who underwent pituitary surgery compared to those who did not (7.3 ± 4.3 vs. 3.7 ± 3.4, P = 0.017). We also showed that QOL was negatively affected in female patients (53.3 ± 22.3 vs. 66.4 ± 22.8, P = 0.013), and in those underwent transsphenoidal surgery (56.2 ± 22.5 vs. 81.4 ± 17.9, P = 0.002), or radiotherapy (32.9 [30.1–63.1] vs. 65.9 [42.1–80.6], P = 0.021). Furthermore, QoL was also decreased with increasing disease duration (r=-0.248, P = 0.030). Personality dimensions based on TCI scores showed differences according the size of pituitary adenoma at initial presentation and presence of hypopituitarism. Patients with macroadenoma (n = 50) had higher novelty seeking (NS) (112 [103.5–120.2] vs. 104.5 [96–112.2], P = 0.049) and perseverance (PS) (118 [105.7–126.2] vs. 107 [97.2–118.2], P = 0.031). Patients with hypopituitarism of any type (n = 16) had lower PS scores (114 [103–123] vs. 116 [98–123.5], P = 0.013) compared to those who had not.

Conclusions: The results revealed gender and pituitary-directed therapies might influence general psychological health and QoL of patients with acromegaly. It was also found that disease-related features such as adenoma size and hypopituitarism migh affect personality profile.