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Drawings assess patient perceptions after remission of acromegaly
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A drawing test could be a relatively easy way for clinicians to assess patient perceptions after long-term remission from acromegaly, according to research published in the European Journal of Endocrinology.
“Patients are labeled ‘cured’ by medical doctors but still feel like a patient with acromegaly,” Jitske Tiemensma, PhD, of the University of California, Merced, said in a news release. “It might be difficult for a patient to bring up lingering physical symptoms, and medical doctors might not always recognize what’s going on.”
Tiemensma and colleagues from other institutions conducted a cross-sectional study involving 50 patients after long-term remission (mean, 16 ± 1.2 years) from acromegaly.
The investigators asked patients to complete retrospective drawings — one of their body perception before having acromegaly and another of their perception during the active phase of the disease — along with a current drawing of their perception after long-term remission. Patients also completed an Illness Perception Questionnaire-Revised, Physical Symptom Checklist and quality of life (QoL) surveys EuroQoL-5D and AcroQoL.
In the active disease state compared with the healthy state before the awareness of acromegaly, patients perceived a dramatic change in body size. Patients reported that their bodies did not entirely return to the original proportions after long-term remission.
Larger drawings indicated patients felt more negative consequences (P < .05), a higher score on emotional representations (P < .05) and more perceived symptoms attributable to acromegaly (P < .01). Further, the larger drawings pointed to greater QoL impairment, particularly disease-specific QoL (all P < .05).
The researchers are considering using drawings throughout the full course of acromegaly, including their expectations after treatment, which would allow patients to look back on the perceptions after being cured.
“We think that these drawings have the potential to function as a source of information health care providers are less likely to receive otherwise,” Tiemensma said. – by Allegra Tiver
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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