Quality of Life in Primary Aldosteronism: A Comparative Effectiveness Study of Adrenalectomy and Medical Treatment

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Abstract

Context

In primary aldosteronism (PA), two subtypes are distinguished: aldosterone-producing adenoma (APA) and bilateral adrenal hyperplasia (BAH). In general, these are treated by adrenalectomy (ADX) and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRA), respectively.

Objective

To compare the effects of surgical treatment and medical treatment on quality of life (QoL).

Design

Post hoc comparative effectiveness study within the Subtyping Primary Aldosteronism: A Randomized Trial Comparing Adrenal Vein Sampling and Computed Tomography Scan (SPARTACUS) trial.

Setting

Twelve Dutch hospitals and one Polish hospital.

Participants

Patients with PA (n = 184).

Interventions

ADX or MRAs.

Main Outcome Measures

At baseline and 6-month and 1-year follow-up, we assessed QoL by two validated questionnaires: RAND 36-Item Health Survey 1.0 (RAND SF-36) and European Quality of Life–5 Dimensions (EQ-5D).

Results

At baseline, seven of eight RAND SF-36 subscales and both summary scores, as well as three of five EQ-5D dimensions and the visual analog scale, were lower in patients with PA compared with the general population, especially in women. The beneficial effects of ADX were larger than for MRAs for seven RAND SF-36 subscales, both summary scores, and health change. For the EQ-5D, we detected a difference in favor of ADX in two dimensions and the visual analog scale. Most differences in QoL between both treatments exceeded the minimally clinically important difference. After 1 year, almost all QoL measures had normalized for adrenalectomized patients. For patients on medical treatment, most QoL measures had improved but not all to the level of the general population.

Conclusion

Both treatments improve QoL in PA, underscoring the importance of identifying these patients. QoL improved more after ADX for suspected APA than after initiation of medical treatment for suspected BAH.

Related collections

Most cited references 42

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Quality criteria were proposed for measurement properties of health status questionnaires.

Caroline Terwee, Sandra D M Bot, Michael de Boer … (2007)

Recently, an increasing number of systematic reviews have been published in which the measurement properties of health status questionnaires are compared. For a meaningful comparison, quality criteria for measurement properties are needed. Our aim was to develop quality criteria for design, methods, and outcomes of studies on the development and evaluation of health status questionnaires. Quality criteria for content validity, internal consistency, criterion validity, construct validity, reproducibility, longitudinal validity, responsiveness, floor and ceiling effects, and interpretability were derived from existing guidelines and consensus within our research group. For each measurement property a criterion was defined for a positive, negative, or indeterminate rating, depending on the design, methods, and outcomes of the validation study. Our criteria make a substantial contribution toward defining explicit quality criteria for measurement properties of health status questionnaires. Our criteria can be used in systematic reviews of health status questionnaires, to detect shortcomings and gaps in knowledge of measurement properties, and to design validation studies. The future challenge will be to refine and complete the criteria and to reach broad consensus, especially on quality criteria for good measurement properties.