Exploring the quality of life of people with hypothyroidism

Picker, working in collaboration with an international research team on experiences of care for people with hypothyroidism, co-authored three peer-reviewed papers exploring care experiences and associations between treatment satisfaction and a range of factors (such as demographics/comorbidities/personality).

Satisfaction was found to be lower for people who had lower confidence in their health professionals, with differences between countries, implying the potential influence of national health care systems, socioeconomic and cultural factors.

A high prevalence of type D personality among people with hypothyroidism was found. Type D personality, which is characterised by pessimism, worry, stress, negative emotions, and social withdrawal, is sometimes associated with poor health status and symptom burden. Type D personality may therefore be an important determinant of dissatisfaction with treatment and care among people with hypothyroidism.

The study author, Dr Petros Perros, M.D., of Newcastle University, UK said,

“We think that there are two likely interpretations, which may not be mutually exclusive – type D personality and hypothyroidism share similar underlying causes, or people with type D personality may perceive treatment outcomes more negatively.”

“Further research is needed to confirm our findings and determine if it is possible to predict how newly diagnosed patients with hypothyroidism will respond to treatment based on personality traits. If so, studies could be designed specifically for such patients, to determine if intervention can improve outcomes.”

You can explore the findings of the three publications here.

• Paper 1 – The Impact of Hypothyroidism on Satisfaction with Care and Treatment and Everyday Living: Results from E-Mod Patient Self-Assessment of Thyroid Therapy, a Cross-Sectional, International Online Patient Survey
• Paper 2 – Hypothyroidism and Somatisation: Results from E-Mode Patient Self-Assessment of Thyroid Therapy, a Cross-Sectional, International Online Patient Survey
• Paper 3 – Hypothyroidism and Type D Personality: Results from E-MPATHY, a Cross-sectional International Online Patient Survey

The results of the study have recently been published in the Endocrine Society’s The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

Read more about Understanding the experience of living with hypothyroidism.