Analysis of the Impact of Ambulatory Care Based on Social Support on the Quality of Life of Patients with Graves' Ophthalmopathy.

Background: Graves' ophthalmopathy (GO) is an organ-specific autoimmune disease and is a common orbital condition that can possibly lead to blindness.

Objective: Our aim was to find out how patients with GO are affected in terms of quality of life (QoL) by traditional nursing care and social support mobile care.

Methods: A total of 38 patients with GO who were admitted to Beijing Chao-Yang Hospital in China between December 2018 and December 2023 underwent life evaluations before treatment, 6 weeks after treatment and 6 months after treatment. The control group comprised 27 patients and the experimental group comprised 11 patients. They were then split into 2 groups based on the European Group on Graves' Orbitopathy (EUGOGO) improvement criteria: improved and unimproved. Then, the mean value of the Graves' Ophthalmopathy-Quality of Life Inventory (GO-QOL) alterations were compared to see if there was any difference, and their post-treatment QoL was examined.

Results: (1) Patients who improved in this study had a mean change in visual energy scale scores before and after treatment that was higher than the patients who did not (13.39 vs 0.00, respectively); (2) The social functioning scores on the GO-QOL scale increased by 17.05 points in the control group before and after treatment (P < .01); (3) A total of 15.4% of patients had a GO-QOL score >90 after therapy, indicating a significant impact on their lives. In the experimental group, scores on the visual power energy scale improved by 16.27 points after treatment compared with before treatment (P = .028).

Conclusion: When used in conjunction with traditional treatment, social supportive mobile care improves the outcomes in patients with GO and is superior to traditional care on its own.