ArticlePituitary2015
Persistent self-consciousness about facial appearance, measured with the Derriford appearance scale 59, in patients after long-term biochemical remission of acromegaly.
Article in Pituitary, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 12 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
12 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 27 citations in OpenAlex.
- Questionnaire and tools: clinical powerful instrument in acromegaly diagnosis and management.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2022Pooled it
- Quality of life and psychological status in people with acromegaly in relation to facial changes.Endocrine connections · 2025Article
- Quality of life in patients with acromegaly: a scoping review.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2024Article
- Orofacial abnormalities in mucopolysaccharidosis and mucolipidosis type II and III: A systematic review.JIMD reports · 2022Article
- Stigma and unhealthy psychological characteristics in patients with acromegaly: A cross-sectional study and identification of the associated factors.Acta neurochirurgica · 2022Article
- Variables Associated With Body Image Concerns in Acromegaly Patients: A Cross-Sectional Study.Frontiers in psychology · 2022Article
- Stigma and psychological distress among pediatric participants in the FD/MAS Alliance Patient Registry.BMC pediatrics · 2021Article
- Importance of Illness Acceptance Among Other Factors Affecting Quality of Life in Acromegaly.Frontiers in endocrinology · 2019Article
- Oro-dental pathologies in acromegaly.Endocrine · 2018Article
- Illness Perceptions are Associated with Quality of Life in Patients with Fibrous Dysplasia.Calcified tissue international · 2018Article
- Update on quality of life in patients with acromegaly.Pituitary · 2017Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
contextAcromegaly is associated with impaired quality of life (QoL) and causes anatomical disproportions, which may contribute to the decreased QoL after successful treatment. The Derriford appearance scale 59 (DAS59) is a questionnaire measuring psychological distress and disruptions to everyday life associated with self-consciousness of appearance.
objectiveInvestigate the psychological distress and dysfunction related to self-consciousness about appearance and its effect on QoL in patients in long-term remission of acromegaly. PATIENTS, DESIGN AND
methodsPatients (>18 years old) treated for acromegaly at the Department of Endocrinology of the Radboud University Medical Center Nijmegen were invited to participate. A gender-, age- and body mass index matched control group was provided by the patients themselves. Participants were asked to complete the modified DAS59-, research and development 36- (RAND-36), acromegaly quality of life questionnaire (AcroQoL) and a sociodemographic questionnaire. Differences between patient- and control groups and correlations between questionnaire scores and clinical characteristics collected from medical records were analyzed.
main outcome measuresQuestionnaire scores.
resultsOf the 120 respondents, 73 agreed to participate [all cured or under biochemical control, median remission time 10.5 years (range 2.3-43.6 years)]. Of these, 34 (46.6%) reported self-consciousness about their appearance. Twenty-nine of these patients (85.3%) pointed out their face to be a prominent source of self-consciousness. Fifty-seven matched control subjects were included as well. Significant correlations were found between the scores of the DAS59 and the AcroQoL, RAND-36 and VAS in patients.
conclusionsEven after long-term remission of acromegaly, a large number of patients are self-conscious about their appearance, leading to psychological distress and disruptions to everyday life and decreased QoL. Facial features were the most important source of self-consciousness. This stresses the importance of addressing self-consciousness of appearance and the need for additional support in this regard during follow-up in these patients.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.