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Evaluation of depression, quality of life and body image in patients with Cushing’s disease

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate patients with Cushing’s disease (CD) who had undergone transsphenoidal surgery in terms of depression, quality of life (QoL), and perception of body image in comparison to healthy controls. Forty patients with CD and 40 healthy controls matched for demographic characteristics were included in the study. The subjects were evaluated with the Beck depression inventory (BDI), the health survey-short form (SF-36) and the multidimensional body-self relations questionnaire (MBSRQ). Subgroups of the patients with CD were formed on the basis of remission status and BDI scores. In this study, QoL in the general health category and body image were lower in the patients with CD than in the healthy subjects. However, no differences in depression scores were found between the two groups. When the CD group was evaluated according to remission rate, the mean BDI score was significantly higher in the CD patients without remission than in both the CD patients with remission and the healthy subjects (p = 0.04). However, the physical functioning, bodily pain and general health scores of the CD patients without remission on the SF-36 questionnaire were lower than in the CD patients in remission and the healthy subjects (p = 0.002, p = 0.04, p = 0.002, respectively). Fitness evaluation, health evaluation and body areas satisfaction scores of the MBSRQ were significantly different in the three groups (p = 0.003, p = 0.009 and p = 0.001, respectively). In this study, patients with CD were found to have lower QoL, lower body image perception and higher levels of depression compared to healthy controls, particularly if the disease is persistant despite surgery.

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Acknowledgments

This research did not receive any specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sector.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest that could be perceived as prejudicing the impartiality of the research reported.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Consultation Liaison Psychiatry, Istanbul Medical School, Istanbul University, 34080, Çapa, Istanbul, Turkey

    Nilufer Alcalar & Sedat Ozkan

  2. Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism, Department of Internal Medicine, Cerrahpasa Medical School, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Pinar Kadioglu & Ozlem Celik

  3. Department of Biostatistics, Istanbul Medical School, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Penbe Cagatay

  4. Department of Neurosurgery, Cerrahpasa Medical School, Istanbul University, Istanbul, Turkey

    Baris Kucukyuruk & Nurperi Gazioglu

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  1. Nilufer Alcalar
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  2. Sedat Ozkan
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  3. Pinar Kadioglu
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  4. Ozlem Celik
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Correspondence to Nilufer Alcalar.

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Alcalar, N., Ozkan, S., Kadioglu, P. et al. Evaluation of depression, quality of life and body image in patients with Cushing’s disease. Pituitary 16, 333–340 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11102-012-0425-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11102-012-0425-5

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