Improvement in quality of life and psychological symptoms after treatment for primary aldosteronism: Asian Cohort Study

Abstract

Background: In addition to increased cardiovascular risk, patients with primary aldosteronism (PA) also suffer from impaired health-related qual ity of life (HRQoL) and psychological symptoms. We assessed for changes in HRQoL and de pressive symptoms in a cohort of Asian patients with PA, after surgical and medical therapy. Methods: Thirty-four patients with PA were prospectively recruited and completed questionnaires from 2017 to 2020. HRQoL was assessed using RAND -36 and EQ-5D-3L, and depressive symptoms were assessed using Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) at baseline, 6 months, and 1 year post-treatment. Results: At 1 year post-treatment, significant improvement was observed in both physical and mental summative scores of RAND-36, +3.65, P = 0.023, and +3.41, P = 0.033, respectively, as well as four subscale domains (physical functioning, bodily pain, role emotional, and mental health). Significant improvemen t was also seen in EQ-5D dimension of anxiety/depression at 1 year post-treatment. Patients treated with surgery (n = 21) had significant improvement in EQ-5D index score post-treat ment and better EQ-5D outcomes compared to the medical group (n = 13) at 1 year post-treatment. 37.9, 41.6 and 58.6% of patients had symptoms in the cognitive, affective and somatic domains of BDI-II, respectively. There was a significant improve ment in the affective domain of BDI-II at 1 year post-treatment. Conclusion: Both surgical and medical therapy improve HRQoL and psychologi cal symptoms in patients with PA, with surgery providing better outcomes. This highlights the importance of early diagnosis, accurate subtyping and appropriate treatment of PA.

Keywords

• adrenalectomy
• hyperaldosteronism
• quality of life
• depression
• mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists
• treatment outcome