The relationship between illness perception and quality of life in thyroid patients who received radioactive iodine-131 ablation treatment

Objective: Most of the differentiated thyroid carcinoma (DTC) patients recover totally after the primary treatment. Unlike most of the other cancer types, the patients do not go through a long, challenging and weary treatment process in thyroid cancers. Illness perception has been suggested to have a significant effect on quality of life on cancer patients. We aimed to evaluate the effect of illness perception on quality of life in thyroid cancer patients who had radioactive iodine-131 treatment after total thyroidectomy. Methods: Totally one hundred patients were included in this cross-sectional study. Patients' age, educational level, marital status and disease characteristics including stage, treatment and follow-up period since diagnosis were reviewed. Short Form 36 Health Survey Questionnaire (SF-36), the illness Perception Questionnaire were used to assess the quality of life and illness perception, respectively. Results: When we correlated the illness perception sub-scales and quality of life dimensions in our study, the most apparent negative correlation was seen between the immunity dimension of the disease sub-scale and quality of life subdimensions. There was also a negative and significant (p<0.05) correlation between the dimensions of ability to understand the disease and overall health. Conclusion: The low ability of patients to understand the disease significantly affects the negative impact on the quality of life of the disease perception. The needs of patients monitored during the remission period should be determined and a multidisciplinary approach should be preferred when necessary