The incidence of thyroid carcinoma has been increasing worldwide in recent decades.1 The accepted treatment includes thyroidectomy associated with neck dissection, radioactive iodine (RAI) ablation and suppressive therapy with levothyroxine.2 Although thyroid carcinoma has a high overall survival, it has a potential risk of recurrence, which requires long-term follow-up with ultrasound, serum marker analysis and thyroid function tests. Therefore, survivors suffer the effects of treatment and prolonged follow-up, which cause emotional distress and decrease quality of life (QoL).3, 4 A substantial percentage of the decline in quality of life is related to factors such as the extent of surgery (total thyroidectomy or lobectomy) or the requirement for excessive TSH suppression, both of which are side effects of treatment rather than illness. Furthermore, the influence of therapeutic complications such as recurrent laryngeal nerve paralysis, hypoparathyroidism caused by surgery or sialadenitis, and gonadal dysfunction caused by radioactive iodine ablation is frequently underestimated.

Many studies have demonstrated a decreased QoL in thyroid cancer patients, comparable to patients with other tumours with worse prognosis.5, 6 Most of these QoL assessments have been performed with generic instruments, such as EORTC QLQ-C30 and SF-36,7, 8 but there are few studies using validated specific instruments.5, 9, 10 Husson et al11 designed the Health-related Quality of Life Questionnaire for Thyroid Cancer Survivors (THYCA-QoL) in 2013, and it was validated in the Spanish language.12 Although more than 450 million people speak Spanish in South and Central America, there are few studies assessing QoL in Latin American patients with thyroid cancer.13, 14, 15

Currently, we use interventions and treatments that are designed and evaluated in different populations that speak other languages but do not know the specific impact on Latin American patients. In addition, Aschebrook-Kilfoy et al9 realized the differences between patients’ and physicians’ concerns, illustrating that thyroid cancer survivors experience several adverse physical and psychological effects that are unrecognized.

The aim of this study was to evaluate QoL in patients with thyroid carcinoma with a generic instrument (EORTC QLQ-C30) and an adapted and validated instrument (THYCA-QoL). Second, our aim was to explore the association of QoL scores with patient features, such as sociodemographic, clinical and treatment characteristics, to identify potential factors that allow health care professionals to provide better supportive care.