ArticlePituitary2021
Surgically treated acromegaly patients have a similar quality of life whether controlled by surgery or requiring additional medical therapy (QuaLAT Study).
Article in Pituitary, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Questionnaire and tools: clinical powerful instrument in acromegaly diagnosis and management.Journal of endocrinological investigation · 2022Pooled it
- Beyond biochemical control: factors associated with quality of life in patients with acromegaly.Pituitary · 2026Article
- Quality of life questionnaires in patients with acromegaly: a scoping review.Journal of patient-reported outcomes · 2026Article
- Reporting of Participants' Sex, Race, Ethnicity, and Socioeconomic Status in Pituitary Surgery Literature.Journal of neurological surgery. Part B, Skull base · 2024Article
- Cardiovascular Effects of Excess Growth Hormone: How Real is the Threat?Reviews in cardiovascular medicine · 2023Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThere is no consensus on quality of life (QOL) in patients with acromegaly requiring medical treatment after surgery compared with those achieving remission by surgery alone.
methodsQuaLAT is a cross-sectional study comparing QOL in surgery-only treated acromegaly patients versus those requiring medical treatment post-surgery. Patients attending clinics were identified and divided into-Group 1: patients who had surgery only and were in biochemical remission, Group 2: all patients on medical treatment post-surgery, Group 3: patients from Group 2 with biochemical control. Participants were asked to fill three questionnaires; Acromegaly Quality of Life Questionnaire (ACROQOL), 36-Item Short Form Survey (SF36), and Fatigue Severity Scale (FSS).
resultsThere were 32 patients in Group 1 and 25 in Group 2. There was no difference in QOL scores between groups 1 and 2, as measured by ACROQOL (mean difference [MD] = - 2.5, 95% CI - 16.6 to 11.6; p = 0.72), SF36v2 [Physical component score (PCS) MD = - 4.9, 95% CI - 10.9 to 1.2; p = 0.12; mental component score MD = - 3.0, 95% CI - 10.5 to 4.4; p = 0.44], or FSS (MD = - 0.004, 95% CI - 1.14 to 1.33; p = 0.1). Comparison between groups 1 and 3 however showed that PCS (and 3 subdomains) was significantly better in group 3 (MD = - 8.3, 95% CI - 14.8 to -1.8; p = 0.01). All three QOL scores were lower when compared with healthy controls.
conclusionsMedical treatment not only achieves a QOL comparable to surgery, it may also be associated with better QOL in physical subdomains. When compared with healthy controls, QOL remains worse in treated acromegaly patients compared to controls.
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