Usefulness of an ad hoc questionnaire (Acro-CQ) for the systematic assessment of acromegaly comorbidities at diagnosis and their management at follow-up

Purpose: To determine the validity of a self-administered questionnaire (Acro-CQ) developed to systematically assess the presence, type and time of onset of acromegaly comorbidities. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study; 105 acromegaly patients and 147 controls with other types of pituitary adenoma, referred to a specialized Italian Center, autonomously compiled Acro-CQ in an outpatient clinical setting. To test its reliability in a different setting, Acro-CQ was administered via mail to 78 patients with acromegaly and 100 with other pituitary adenomas, referred to a specialized US Center. Data obtained from questionnaires in both settings were compared with medical records (gold standard). Results: Demographics of patients and controls from both countries were similar. In both settings, >95 % of the questionnaires were completely filled; only one item was missed in the others. Concordance with medical record was excellent (k > 0.85) for most of the items, independently from the way of administration, patient age, gender and nationality, pituitary adenoma type and disease activity. Conclusions: Acro-CQ is an inexpensive, highly accepted from patients and reliable tool recommended to expedite systematic collection of relevant clinical data in acromegaly at diagnosis, to be replicated at follow-ups. This tool may guide a targeted, cost-effective management of complications. Moreover, it could be applied to retrieve data for survey studies in both acromegaly and other pituitary adenomas, as information is easily and rapidly accessible for statistical analysis.