GO-QOL Usefulness.pdf

Thyroid eye disease (TED) affects 25-50% of patients with Graves' hyperthyroidism, causing sight-threatening and cosmetically disfiguring symptoms. The CIRTED trial evaluated the long-term role of radiotherapy and immunosuppression with azathioprine in treating TED. This study aimed to validate the English version of the GO-QOL questionnaire, a TED-specific quality of life measure, in a UK population with TED.

The GO-QOL was tested in a three-stage design over 48 weeks, comparing it to the WHOQOL-Bref, a general quality of life measure. Results showed:

Excellent internal validity and reliability (Cronbach's alphas: 0.929 and 0.931 for Visual Function, 0.888 and 0.906 for Appearance)
Longitudinal validity, with significant changes over time (p<.001 for Visual Function, p<.002 for Appearance)
* Discriminant validity, with the GO-QOL detecting changes in groups identified by clinicians and participants' subjective ratings of TED noticeability and severity

The study supports the use of the English version of the GO-QOL as an outcome measure for patients with moderately severe active Graves' orbitopathy/TED. The GO-QOL is a reliable and valid tool for assessing quality of life in TED patients, making it useful for clinical trials and practice.