Abstract
Health-related quality of life in thyroid and blood disorders
The age profile of the population is expected to change considerably in the next decades. Therefore, healthy aging will be one of the major challenges in the near future. As individuals age, the proportion of individuals with one or more chronic diseases rises. Thyroid and blood disorders are examples of frequently observed chronic diseases, especially in older individuals. The general aim of this thesis was to provide insight in health outcomes including health-related quality of life in individuals with thyroid and blood disorders. All studies described in this thesis are based on data from the Lifelines cohort.
The first part of the thesis is focused on thyroid disorders. Unfortunately, a substantial proportion of adequately treated patients with hypothyroidism have persistent complaints. Several possible underlying factors were studied. No difference in health-related quality of life was present between patients with hypothyroidism with and without a genetic variation. On the other hand, it was demonstrated that comorbidity, which appeared to be more frequently present in individuals with hypothyroidism, contributes to a further lowering of HRQoL.
In the second part, the associations between several blood count abnormalities and health outcomes were described. Especially inflammatory blood cell counts were found to be associated with health-related quality of life. Lastly, it was demonstrated that the currently used reference intervals for anemia and for a high red blood cell count might not be optimal in the perspective of quality of life.
The age profile of the population is expected to change considerably in the next decades. Therefore, healthy aging will be one of the major challenges in the near future. As individuals age, the proportion of individuals with one or more chronic diseases rises. Thyroid and blood disorders are examples of frequently observed chronic diseases, especially in older individuals. The general aim of this thesis was to provide insight in health outcomes including health-related quality of life in individuals with thyroid and blood disorders. All studies described in this thesis are based on data from the Lifelines cohort.
The first part of the thesis is focused on thyroid disorders. Unfortunately, a substantial proportion of adequately treated patients with hypothyroidism have persistent complaints. Several possible underlying factors were studied. No difference in health-related quality of life was present between patients with hypothyroidism with and without a genetic variation. On the other hand, it was demonstrated that comorbidity, which appeared to be more frequently present in individuals with hypothyroidism, contributes to a further lowering of HRQoL.
In the second part, the associations between several blood count abnormalities and health outcomes were described. Especially inflammatory blood cell counts were found to be associated with health-related quality of life. Lastly, it was demonstrated that the currently used reference intervals for anemia and for a high red blood cell count might not be optimal in the perspective of quality of life.
| Original language | English |
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| Qualification | Doctor of Philosophy |
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| Award date | 13-Sept-2021 |
| Place of Publication | [Groningen] |
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| Publication status | Published - 2021 |