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Quality of life in dysphagia and anxiety and depression symptoms pre and post-thyroidectomy

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To correlate the dysphagia quality of life and symptoms of anxiety and depression before and after thyroidectomy.

Methods

Observational, longitudinal, prospective, and experimental study. Twenty patients participated, with a mean age of 54 years, prevalence of females (n=17; 85%) and partial thyroidectomy (n=14; 70%). All subjects underwent laryngeal visual examination and answered the MD Anderson Dysphagia Questionnaire (MDADI) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) in three different moments: preoperatively, immediately postoperatively (maximum one week) and three months after surgery.

Results

There was a significant difference in dysphagia quality of life for the physical and total domains in the three different moments. Regarding anxiety and depression, a statistically significant difference was observed between the scores in all domains, with a greater difference observed between the preoperative period and after 1 week. Higher values were observed in the preoperative period for mild anxiety traits, being more frequent in relation to depression, with a reduction after 1 week and an increase after three months of surgery. There was no significant correlation between the MDADI and HADS protocols.

Conclusion

Patients undergoing thyroidectomy self-report better quality of life in dysphagia and reduced anxiety/depression scores after three months of surgery. There was no correlation between anxiety, depression and quality of life in dysphagia at the moments evaluated.

Keywords:
Thyroidectomy; Deglutition Disorders; Quality of Life; Anxiety; Depression

RESUMO

Objetivo

Correlacionar a qualidade de vida em disfagia e sintomas de ansiedade e depressão pré e pós-tireoidectomia.

Método

Estudo observacional, longitudinal, prospectivo e quantitativo. Participaram 20 pacientes, com média de idade de 54 anos, maior prevalência do sexo feminino (n=17; 85%) e de tireoidectomia parcial (n=14; 70%). Todos realizaram exame visual laríngeo e responderam ao Questionário de Disfagia M. D. Anderson (MDADI) e à Escala Hospitalar de Ansiedade e Depressão (HADS), no pré-operatório, pós-operatório recente (máximo uma semana) e três meses pós-operatório.

Resultados

Houve diferença significante na qualidade de vida em disfagia, para os domínios físico e total, nos três momentos. Quanto à ansiedade e depressão foi observada diferença estatisticamente significante entre as pontuações em todos os domínios, com maior diferença observada entre o pré-operatório e pós-operatório recente. Foram observados valores mais altos no pré-operatório para traços leves de ansiedade, sendo mais frequentes em relação à depressão, com redução após 1 semana e aumento após três meses de cirurgia. Não houve correlação significante entre os protocolos MDADI e HADS.

Conclusão

Os pacientes submetidos à tireoidectomia autorreferem melhor qualidade de vida em disfagia e redução dos escores de ansiedade/depressão após três meses de cirurgia. Não houve correlação entre ansiedade, depressão e qualidade de vida em disfagia nos momentos avaliados.

Descritores:
Tireoidectomia; Transtornos de Deglutição; Qualidade de Vida; Ansiedade; Depressão

INTRODUCTION

Patients diagnosed with benign/malignant thyroid diseases may also have hormonal changes, enlargement of the gland or even thyroid nodules(11 Nam I-C, Park Y-H. Pharyngolaryngeal symptoms associated with thyroid disease. Curr Opin Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2017;25(6):469-74. http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MOO.0000000000000404. PMid:28759458.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/MOO.0000000000...
). As a result of these conditions, these patients may have dysphagia, either before or after partial or total thyroidectomy(22 Kletzien H, Macdonald CL, Orne J, Francis DO, Leverson G, Wendt E, et al. Comparison between patient-perceived voice changes and quantitative voice measures in the first postoperative year after thyroidectomy: a secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2018;144(11):995-1003. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2018.0309. PMid:29710208.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2018.0...

3 Hajiioannou JK, Sioka E, Tsiouvaka S, Korais C, Zacharoulis D, Bizakis J. Impact of uncomplicated total thyroidectomy on voice and swallowing symptoms: a prospective clinical trial. Indian J Surg. 2019;81(6):564-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12262-019-01865-9.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12262-019-018...
-44 Gumus T, Makay O, Eyigor S, Ozturk K, Cetin ZE, Sezgin B, et al. Objective analysis of swallowing and functional voice outcomes after thyroidectomy: a prospective cohort study. Asian J Surg. 2020;43(1):116-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019.04.013. PMid:31130500.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019....
).

There are reports in the literature that patients undergoing thyroidectomy have symptoms suggestive of changes in swallowing, both pre- and postoperatively, characterized by a feeling of dryness, irritated throat, choking and a lump in the throat, which may have an impact in the swallowing function(55 Araújo LF, Lopes LW, Silva POC, Perrusi VJF, Farias VLF, Azevedo EHM. Sintomas sensoriais em pacientes submetidos à tireoidectomia. CoDAS. 2017;29(3):e20150294. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1782/20172016294. PMid:28538821.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-1782/2017...
) and, consequently, on the patient's quality of life. In addition, complaints related to swallowing and voice before thyroidectomy may be present in up to one- third of patients(66 Cruz JSS, Lopes LW, Alves GAS, Rodrigues DSB, Souza DX, Costa BI, et al. Frequência combinada de queixas relacionadas à deglutição e voz antes da tireoidectomia. Audiol Commun Res. 2019;24:e2180. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-6431-2019-2180.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/2317-6431-2019...
), while the occurrence of symptoms related to swallowing in individuals after thyroidectomy may range from 20% to 58%(77 Galluzzi F, Garavello W. Dysphagia following uncomplicated thyroidectomy: a systematic review. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2019;276(10):2661-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00405-019-05599-y. PMid:31414222.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00405-019-055...
) .

It should be noted that swallowing-related symptoms can cause psychological stress with negative effects on quality of life, considered as a predictor of suffering(88 Lan Y, Cao L, Song Q, Jin Z, Xiao J, Yan L, et al. The quality of life in papillary thyroid microcarcinoma patients undergoing lobectomy or total thyroidectomy: a cross-sectional study. Cancer Med. 2021;10(6):1989-2002. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cam4.3747. PMid:33638269.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cam4.3747...
). In this context, anxiety and depression are highly prevalent in patients with thyroid disorders(99 Yang Y, Ma H, Wang M, Wang A. Assessment of anxiety levels of patients awaiting surgery for suspected thyroid cancer: a case-control study in a Chinese-Han population. Asia-Pac Psychiatry. 2017;9(4):e12245. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/appy.12245. PMid:27231037.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/appy.12245...
,1010 Gorkhali B, Sharma S, Amatya M, Acharya D, Sharma M. Anxiety and depression among patients with thyroid function disorders. J Nepal Health Res Counc. 2020;18(3):373-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2499. PMid:33210626.
http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2...
). Gorkhali et al.(1010 Gorkhali B, Sharma S, Amatya M, Acharya D, Sharma M. Anxiety and depression among patients with thyroid function disorders. J Nepal Health Res Counc. 2020;18(3):373-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2499. PMid:33210626.
http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2...
) reported the presence of anxiety in more than 50% of patients and depression in more than 40%.

A study conducted with patients with thyroid dysfunction showed that even after patients became euthyroid with treatment, they still had a predisposition to anxiety and depression, and more than 50% of patients had mild depression signs after one year of follow-up(1111 Gunes NA. Evaluation of anxiety and depression in patients with thyroid function disorder. Rev Assoc Med Bras. 2020;66(7):979-85. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1806-9282.66.7.979. PMid:32844932.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1806-9282.66.7...
). These symptoms may result from a fear of disease recurrence and progression and influence the individual's quality of life(1212 Krekeler BN, Wendt E, Macdonald C, Orne J, Francis DO, Sippel R, et al. Patient-reported dysphagia after thyroidectomy: a qualitative study. JAMA Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2018;144(4):342-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2017.3378. PMid:29522149.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jamaoto.2017.3...

13 Park YM, Oh KH, Cho J-G, Baek S-K, Kwon S-Y, Jung K-Y, et al. Changes in voice- and swallowing-related symptoms after thyroidectomy: one-year follow-up study. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol. 2018;127(3):171-7. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0003489417751472. PMid:29298509.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00034894177514...

14 Hedman C, Strang P, Djärv T, Widberg I, Lundgren CI. Anxiety and fear of recurrence despite a good prognosis: an interview study with differentiated thyroid cancer patients. Thyroid. 2017;27(11):1417-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/thy.2017.0346. PMid:28874092.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/thy.2017.0346...
-1515 Silva NDKC, Viana CC, Forte RS, Mazzinghy MCF. Avaliação dos sintomas de ansiedade, depressão e estresse em pacientes com carcinoma diferenciado da tireoide. Braz J Health Rev. 2021;4(5):23128-37. http://dx.doi.org/10.34119/bjhrv4n5-389.
http://dx.doi.org/10.34119/bjhrv4n5-389...
).

As well as the sensory aspects related to swallowing, emotional issues associated with the diagnosis of thyroid nodules should also be considered in the patient's analysis(99 Yang Y, Ma H, Wang M, Wang A. Assessment of anxiety levels of patients awaiting surgery for suspected thyroid cancer: a case-control study in a Chinese-Han population. Asia-Pac Psychiatry. 2017;9(4):e12245. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/appy.12245. PMid:27231037.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/appy.12245...
,1616 Kirnap NG, İyidir ÖT, Bozkuş Y, Işildak ŞM, Anil C, Firat SN, et al. The effect of iatrogenic subclinical hyperthyroidism on anxiety, depression and quality of life in differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Turk J Med Sci. 2020;50(4):870-6. http://dx.doi.org/10.3906/sag-1902-176. PMid:32490648.
http://dx.doi.org/10.3906/sag-1902-176...
). In this sense, the clinical management of thyroid alterations should include the identification and treatment of both swallowing-related symptoms and anxiety and depression, with adequate counseling for these patients(1010 Gorkhali B, Sharma S, Amatya M, Acharya D, Sharma M. Anxiety and depression among patients with thyroid function disorders. J Nepal Health Res Counc. 2020;18(3):373-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2499. PMid:33210626.
http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2...
).

However, there is little strong evidence on the relationship between dysphagia and anxiety/depression and with different populations. A randomized clinical trial with post-stroke dysphagic patients showed different degrees of anxiety/depression(1717 Zeng Y, Yip J, Cui H, Guan L, Zhu H, Zhang W, et al. Efficacy of neuromuscular electrical stimulation in improving the negative psychological state in patients with cerebral infarction and dysphagia. Neurol Res. 2018;40(6):473-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01616412.2018.1451015. PMid:29726748.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01616412.2018....
). Lower anxiety and depression scores, better swallowing function and lower incidence of pneumonia were found in nutritional rehabilitation in post-cerebral infarction patients with alternative intermittent feeding concomitantly with swallowing rehabilitation(1818 Juan W, Zhen H, Yan-Ying F, Hui-Xian Y, Tao Z, Pei-Fen G, et al. A comparative study of two tube feeding methods in patients with dysphagia after stroke: a randomized controlled trial. J Stroke Cerebrovasc Dis. 2020;29(3):104602. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecerebrovasdis.2019.104602. PMid:31924485.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jstrokecereb...
). However, there are still no studies addressing the quality of life in dysphagia and emotional symptoms in patients undergoing thyroidectomy longitudinally.

Therefore, the investigation of quality of life in dysphagia and symptoms of anxiety and/or depression can help in early clinical management, improving the patient's prognosis.

Thus, this study aimed to correlate quality of life in dysphagia and symptoms of anxiety/depression before and after thyroidectomy.

METHODS

This was an observational, longitudinal, prospective and quantitative study approved by the Research Ethics Committee of the Institution under the Decision No. 2.644.055. All study participants signed the Informed Consent Form.

The study included 20 patients with thyroid disease, with a mean age of 54 years (standard deviation= ±16.9), and a higher prevalence of females (n=17; 85%) and partial thyroidectomy (n=14; 70%) . The sample was selected for convenience and the participants were treated at the Head and Neck Surgery Department of a University Hospital. In turn, the study excluded patients with reduced alertness or cognitive status, with other oncological diagnoses, who had undergone non-surgical treatments, with a neurological diagnosis, as well as patients with other oncological diagnoses, who have undergone non-surgical treatments, with a neurological diagnosis, patients who had laryngeal alterations and endolaryngeal signs of laryngopharyngeal reflux, visualized through videolaryngoscopy, performed in the three moments, such as the presence of hyperemia and edema of the posterior third of the glottic and interarytenoid region (diagnosis dependent on medical evaluation without specific criteria), and data on thyroid hormone alterations obtained by measuring TSH (thyroid-stimulating hormone) and free T4 in the blood (reference value for TSH: 0.27 to 4.2, and for Free T4: 0.93 to 1.710), requested on a regular basis in the outpatient follow-up of the patients and collected from the medical records in all three moments.

The patients completed the M.D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory (MDADI)(1919 Guedes RL, Angelis EC, Chen AY, Kowalski LP, Vartanian JG. Validation and application of the M.D. Anderson Dysphagia Inventory in patients treated for head and neck cancer in Brazil. Dysphagia. 2013;28(1):24-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00455-012-9409-x. PMid:22684923.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00455-012-940...
,2020 Chen AY, Frankowski R, Bishop-Leone J, Hebert T, Leyk S, Lewin J, et al. The development and validation of a dysphagia-specific quality-of-life questionnaire for patients with head and neck cancer: the M. D. Anderson dysphagia inventory. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2001;127(7):870-6. PMid:11448365.) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)(2121 Snaith RP, Zigmond AS. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1986;292(6516):344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.292.6516.344. PMid:3080166.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.292.6516.3...
,2222 Botega NJ, Bio MR, Zomignani MA, Garcia C Jr, Pereira WAB. Transtornos do humor em enfermaria de clínica médica e validação de escala de medida (HAD) de ansiedade e depressão. Rev Saúde Pública. 1995;29(5):359-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89101995000500004. PMid:8731275.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89101995...
) at three different times: (a) Preoperative period; (b) Recent postoperative period (maximum of one week); and (c) after three months. The MDADI allows patients to self-evaluate their perception of their swallowing function after treatment for head and neck cancer and its impact on their quality of life. The questionnaire includes 20 questions, one of which is a global question and the others subdivided into domains: emotional (6 questions), functional (5 questions) and physical (8 questions). Scores between 0 and 100 are assigned to all domains and the lower the score, the worse the effect of dysphagia on quality of life. The total score is obtained by the total average of the domains, in which values from 0 to 20 are considered as profound limitation, 21 to 40 for severe limitation, 41 to 60 for moderate limitation, 61 to 80 for medium limitation and 81 to 100 for minimal limitation(2020 Chen AY, Frankowski R, Bishop-Leone J, Hebert T, Leyk S, Lewin J, et al. The development and validation of a dysphagia-specific quality-of-life questionnaire for patients with head and neck cancer: the M. D. Anderson dysphagia inventory. Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2001;127(7):870-6. PMid:11448365.).

In turn, HADS allows the assessment of mood disorders in patients with physical illnesses. This tool includes 14 multiple-choice questions divided into two subscales, one for anxiety and the other for depression, with seven items each. The overall score on each subscale ranges from 0 to 21. Anxiety and depression scores are categorized into normal (0-7), mild (8-10), moderate (11-14), and severe (15-21). A cutoff of 8 or more points represents possible cases of anxiety/depression, while 11 or more points represent probable cases of anxiety/depression(2121 Snaith RP, Zigmond AS. The hospital anxiety and depression scale. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed). 1986;292(6516):344. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.292.6516.344. PMid:3080166.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmj.292.6516.3...
,2222 Botega NJ, Bio MR, Zomignani MA, Garcia C Jr, Pereira WAB. Transtornos do humor em enfermaria de clínica médica e validação de escala de medida (HAD) de ansiedade e depressão. Rev Saúde Pública. 1995;29(5):359-63. http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89101995000500004. PMid:8731275.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0034-89101995...
).

All data collection was carried out through interviews by the researcher, who has experience in the area of dysphagia and in the application of self-assessment protocols.

Descriptive statistics of the instruments used were performed for data analysis. The Friedman test was used to compare the pre- and post-surgery periods and the Conover Post-hoc Test to precisely identify at which time points in the study this difference occurred. Spearman's rank correlation coefficient was used to measure the correlation between instrument scores. A significance level of 5% (p-value ≤ 0.05) was adopted for all analyzes. Aiming at analyzing the magnitudes of correlation, values below 0.50 were considered weak, while values between 0.50 and 0.7 were considered moderate, between 0.70 and 0.90 were considered strong and values above 0.90 were considered very strong(2323 Hinkle DE, Wiersma W, Jurs SG. Applied statistics for the behavioral sciences. 5. ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin; 2003. 756 p.). All statistical analyzes were performed using the R v3.6.1.

RESULTS

There was a prevalence of average limitation for the emotional and functional domains in the three time periods. The physical domain showed moderate limitation in the preoperative and recent postoperative periods. In addition, there was a significant difference in the “physical” and “total” domains of the MDADI between the preoperative period and three months after (“a” and “c”), as well as for the recent postoperative period and three months after (“b” and “c”). (Table 1).

Table 1
Comparison of the median of the scores of MDADI domains, at different times, in patients undergoing thyroidectomy

The greatest difference in the HADS scale, both for anxiety and depression, was found between the preoperative period (a) and the recent postoperative period (b), and the values found in the preoperative period were characterized as “mild traits” for anxiety and “normal traits” for depression. In addition, there was a statistically significant difference between all pairs of time periods in the “anxiety” domain and in the total score of the HADS scale. There was a statistically significant difference in the “Depression” domain between the preoperative and early postoperative period (1W) (“a” and “b”) and the preoperative period and 3 months after surgery (3M) (“a” and “c”) (Table 2).

Table 2
Comparison of the scores of HADS domains, at different times, in patients undergoing thyroidectomy

No statistically significant correlation was found between the domains of the HADS scale and the MDADI questionnaire at the evaluated periods (Table 3).

Table 3
Correlation between MDADI domain scores and HADS items, at different times, in patients undergoing thyroidectomy

DISCUSSION

Patients submitted to thyroidectomy may have vocal and swallowing alterations even with the preservation of the laryngeal nerves(33 Hajiioannou JK, Sioka E, Tsiouvaka S, Korais C, Zacharoulis D, Bizakis J. Impact of uncomplicated total thyroidectomy on voice and swallowing symptoms: a prospective clinical trial. Indian J Surg. 2019;81(6):564-71. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12262-019-01865-9.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12262-019-018...
,44 Gumus T, Makay O, Eyigor S, Ozturk K, Cetin ZE, Sezgin B, et al. Objective analysis of swallowing and functional voice outcomes after thyroidectomy: a prospective cohort study. Asian J Surg. 2020;43(1):116-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019.04.013. PMid:31130500.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019....
,2424 Elbeltagy YM, Bassiouny SE, Sobhy TS, Ismail AE, Teaima AA. Swallowing problems after thyroidectomy. Int Arch Otorhinolaryngol. 2022;26(3):e327-33. http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0041-1730302. PMid:35846825.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0041-1730302...
), which impact the individual's quality of life and emotional state(2525 Hadžibegović AĐ, Hergešić F, Babić E, Slipac J, Prstačić R. Thyroidectomy-related swallowing difficulties: review of the literature. Acta Clin Croat. 2020;59(Supl 1):38-48. PMid:34219883.). The understanding and identification of these parameters helps in clinical decision-making and in better communication in the professional-patient relationship.

The MDADI results showed a difference in the three periods analyzed for the “physical” and “total” domains. In addition, scores improved in all domains after three months of surgery, except for overall, in which the median score was maintained (Table 1). Another study concluded that there was an improvement in the quality of life related to swallowing of the participants after six months of treatment and that symptoms related to dysphagia in the recent postoperative period reduced during follow-up(44 Gumus T, Makay O, Eyigor S, Ozturk K, Cetin ZE, Sezgin B, et al. Objective analysis of swallowing and functional voice outcomes after thyroidectomy: a prospective cohort study. Asian J Surg. 2020;43(1):116-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019.04.013. PMid:31130500.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019....
).

The study by Gumus et al.(44 Gumus T, Makay O, Eyigor S, Ozturk K, Cetin ZE, Sezgin B, et al. Objective analysis of swallowing and functional voice outcomes after thyroidectomy: a prospective cohort study. Asian J Surg. 2020;43(1):116-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019.04.013. PMid:31130500.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019....
) found a difference only for the “total” domain score of the MDADI, which made it impossible to compare all domains with the data from this study. Therefore, it is suggested to carry out studies investigating the different domains of MDADI in patients with thyroid alterations, facilitating the understanding of the different factors of quality of life in dysphagia.

The statistically significant difference found in this study between the “physical” and “total” MDADI domains is in line with a Brazilian study carried out with patients with thyroid carcinoma, which found an improvement in the scores of all MDADI domains after three months of treatment with radioiodine therapy(2626 Nascimento JR Jr, Angelis EC, Lima ENP. Short term quality of life related to voice and swallowing in patients undergoing 131I (Iodine) for differentiated thyroid carcinoma. Rev CEFAC. 2015;17(2):396-408.). Although the treatment method was different from the treatment of the participants in this study, the difference between the scores of the domains in both studies strengthens the hypothesis that both thyroidectomy and radioiodine therapy can improve the quality of life related to swallowing in patients with thyroid disorders. Furthermore, it should be noted the difficulty of finding studies investigating the quality of life related to post-thyroidectomy swallowing.

The “physical” domain proved to be the most affected in the preoperative and post-operative moments. Regarding the difference between the periods for this domain, it is known that even without manipulation and/or injury to the recurrent laryngeal nerve, voice and/or swallowing changes can be self-reported by patients undergoing thyroidectomy(44 Gumus T, Makay O, Eyigor S, Ozturk K, Cetin ZE, Sezgin B, et al. Objective analysis of swallowing and functional voice outcomes after thyroidectomy: a prospective cohort study. Asian J Surg. 2020;43(1):116-23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019.04.013. PMid:31130500.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.asjsur.2019....
). Therefore, it is believed that the “physical” domain has a greater impact when compared to the other domains.

As for the HADS scale, the patients had scores characterized as mild anxiety traits and greater than depression traits. These scores were higher in the preoperative period, decreasing in the recent postoperative period and increasing three months after surgery (Table 2).

Although the traits have been considered mild for anxiety and depression, these symptoms are frequent in patients with thyroid alterations(99 Yang Y, Ma H, Wang M, Wang A. Assessment of anxiety levels of patients awaiting surgery for suspected thyroid cancer: a case-control study in a Chinese-Han population. Asia-Pac Psychiatry. 2017;9(4):e12245. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/appy.12245. PMid:27231037.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/appy.12245...
,1010 Gorkhali B, Sharma S, Amatya M, Acharya D, Sharma M. Anxiety and depression among patients with thyroid function disorders. J Nepal Health Res Counc. 2020;18(3):373-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2499. PMid:33210626.
http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2...
) and should be evaluated and included in the scope of the management of patients with such alterations(1010 Gorkhali B, Sharma S, Amatya M, Acharya D, Sharma M. Anxiety and depression among patients with thyroid function disorders. J Nepal Health Res Counc. 2020;18(3):373-8. http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2499. PMid:33210626.
http://dx.doi.org/10.33314/jnhrc.v18i3.2...
), and should be analyzed longitudinally. Furthermore, the literature indicates that dysphagia is a predictor of depression(2727 San SW, Ahmad A, Mahadevan B. The swallowing ability and psychosocial domains of patients with dysphagia among head and neck cancer population. Malaysian J Health Sci. 2019;17(1):1-8.).

Regarding anxiety, there was a difference between all analyzed moments, while for depression, the only period that did not present a significant difference was between the recent postoperative period and the three months after (Table 2). These findings show the need for multidisciplinary follow-up, including psychological assistance, from the beginning of the treatment, aiming to minimize the emotional impact that the difficulty in swallowing can cause through strategies such as cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy, which has been shown to be effective in the follow-up of patients with thyroid disease(2828 Pápai A, Cozma MM, Cosa LE, Mihai A. Coping strategies in thyroid diseases. Acta Medica Transilvanica. 2020;25(2):29-32. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/amtsb-2020-0024.
http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/amtsb-2020-002...
).

As shown in Table 3, there was no correlation between MDADI and HADS scores. However, correlations of both questionnaires have already been found in other studies, with different populations, such as in patients submitted to total laryngectomy(2929 Kemps GJ, Krebbers I, Pilz W, Vanbelle S, Baijens LW. Affective symptoms and swallow specific quality of life in total laryngectomy patients. Head Neck. 2020;42(11):3179-87. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hed.26365. PMid:32621568.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hed.26365...
) and in patients who survived head and neck cancer in general(3030 Yee K, Wong SM, Teo I, Loy J, Roche E, Tan YP, et al. Validity and reliability of the MD Anderson dysphagia inventory in English and Chinese in head and neck cancer patients. Asia Pac J Clin Oncol. 2020;16(6):372-9. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajco.13384. PMid:32573112.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ajco.13384...
). The non-correlation between the scores of the applied questionnaires may have occurred due to the sample size or the uniqueness of the patients' responses and/or several other sampling factors. Therefore, studies are suggested to investigate the correlation between both questionnaires in the population with thyroid disorders in the long term.

Some limitations were identified in this study, such as the reduced sample size due to the suspension of outpatient care, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the difficulty of contact by telephone, lack of important information about the reasons for which the patients underwent to thyroidectomy and further detailing of the sample with data referring to thyroid disease, such as the type of lesion, lack of data on psychiatric diagnosis of any mental disorder, use of medication such as anxiolytics and lack of criteria for considering the presence of edema, which could reflect on clinical implications and greater consistency of the discussion.

CONCLUSION

Patients undergoing thyroidectomy self-report better quality of life in dysphagia and reduced anxiety/depression scores after three months of surgery. There was no correlation between anxiety, depression and quality of life in dysphagia at the evaluated periods.

  • Study conducted at Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo - UFES - Vitória (ES), Brasil.
  • Financial support: nothing to declare.

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Publication Dates

  • Publication in this collection
    07 Aug 2023
  • Date of issue
    2023

History

  • Received
    24 Mar 2022
  • Accepted
    23 Sept 2022
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