Study finds alarming lack of thyroid-associated orbitopathy awareness in patients with thyroid dysfunction

There is a significant lack of awareness and knowledge about thyroid-associated orbitopathy (TAO) among patients with thyroid dysfunction, according to a study that demonstrated that without educational materials, only a small percentage of patients were familiar with TAO, and their knowledge scores were notably low.

The study included 255 patients attending the endocrinology clinic and was executed in 3 distinct phases. The initial phase served as a control, devoid of any educational materials in the waiting area. This was followed by exposure to informative posters, followed by exposure to educational pamphlets.

In the control group, 16.5% of patients reported familiarity with TAO, with an average TAO-Knowledge (TAO-K) score of 29.8 out of 100. However, after the implementation of poster and pamphlet interventions, the percentage of patients possessing some level of knowledge about TAO increased significantly across the control, poster, and pamphlet phases: 16.5%, 25.9%, and 63.5%, respectively (P < 0.001). Correspondingly, the mean TAO-K score exhibited a substantial ascent: 29.8, 45.8, and 63.2, respectively (P < 0.001).

Reference
Kheir WJ, Khalil AA, Torbey J, et al. Effectiveness of educational materials on levels of knowledge of thyroid associated orbitopathy in an endocrinology clinic. PEC Innov. 2023;3:100225. doi: 10.1016/j.pecinn.2023.100225. PMID: 37842176; PMCID: PMC10570698.