Searchable abstracts of presentations at key conferences in endocrinology
Endocrine Abstracts (2008) 16 S24.4

1Department of Endocrinology, Hospital Sant Pau, Autonomous University of Barcelona, and Centre for Biomedical Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER Unit 747), Barcelona, Spain; 2Health Economics and Outcomes Research, IMS Health, and Centre for Biomedical Research on Rare Diseases (CIBERER Unit 747), Barcelona, Spain; 3Department of Molecular and Clinical Endocrinology and Oncology, ‘Federico II’ University, Naples, Italy; 4Department Endocrinology, Charité-Universitätsmedizin, Campus Mitte, Berlin, Germany; 5Department Endocrinology, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France; 6Department of Internal Medicine, ErasmusMC, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; 7Department of Endocrinology, Max-Planck-Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany; 8Oncology Clinical Research, Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corporation, East Hanover, New Jersey, USA.


Chronic exposure to hypercortisolism significantly impacts on patient’s health and health-related quality of life (HRQoL). We developed a disease-generated questio-nnaire to evaluate HRQoL in Cushing’s syndrome (CS) (CushingQoL); in 125 (104 females) patients recruited in Spain, France, Germany, The Netherlands and Italy, clinical and hormonal data were collected and correlated with results of the generic SF-36 questionnaire, a question on self-perceived general health status and the CushingQoL score. 39 (31%) were currently hypercortisolemic and 47 (38%) adrenal insufficient. Psychometric evaluation was adequate: good feasibility (94%), reliability (Crohnbach’s alpha=0.87) and validity (unidimensionality and after Rasch analysis lead to a final version with 12 items). A significant (P<0.001) correlation was observed between CushingQoL score and patients self-perceived general health and SF-36 (Pearson’s correlation coefficient >0.597). Patients with hypercortisolism (defined as increased 24-h urinary free cortisol) scored worse (lower) than those without (44+22 vs 56+21, P=0.004). Linear regression analysis identified female gender and hypercortisolism as predictors for worse QoL. Conclusion: CushingQoL is useful to evaluate HRQoL in patients with CS and correlates with clinical parameters. Conducted but not funded by ERCUSYN.

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