Author(s): Dr. DV Satyamurthy G, Dr. NRV Krishnaswamy and Dr. T Sunitha

Abstract: Background: Thyroid diseases are common worldwide mostly in middle-aged women. India is not an exception with a significant burden of thyroid diseases. Subclinical hypothyroidism is mainly diagnosed by laboratory results. In India, there are only a few studies done in prevalence and patterns of age distributions of subclinical hypothyroidism. Aim & Objective: The present study is aimed to estimate the prevalence and distribution of subclinical hypothyroidism in young and middle-aged women attending the outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital. Materials & Methods: This study is a hospital-based cross-sectional study done at Katuri Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, a tertiary care center, Andhra Pradesh, India. More than 12 years of age group including adolescents, pregnant, older age groups are selected and investigated for subclinical hypothyroid by doing T3, T4, and TSH concentrations. Thyroid function tests were done in the Clinical biochemistry Department on Maglumi 800 fully automated hormone analyzer by Chemiluminescence immunoassay method. Patients with any evidence of medical and surgical disorders were excluded from the study. Approval from the scientific and institutional ethics committee was obtained and patients who gave informed consent were included in the study. Results: Out of 932 patients only 841 samples that met the inclusion were included in the study. Among 841 cases, TSH levels above 6 were 71. Out of 71 TSH cases, 43 had T3 less than 0.86 and the remaining 28 had normal T3 and T4 values. Total subclinical Hypothyroidism cases were 28 (3.32%) out of 841 cases tested for TSH. In the present study, the Average age of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCHT) cases was 28.14 years. In the present, study most of the SCHT cases were seen in the age group of 25-30 years 13 (46.42%) followed by 30-35 years 9(32.14%) and 20-25 years 6 (21.42%). In the present study, the minimum & maximum values of Thyroid hormones were (T3- 0.86 & 1.6; T4- 4.7& 10.6; TSH-6.2 &169). The mean values of thyroid hormones in SCHT were (T3- 0.84±0.22, T4-6.85±1.27 and TSH- 15.80±22.62). Conclusion: The present studies conclude that the prevalence of subclinical hyperthyroidism more in females than the males and distribution of SCHT increase as the age advance.

DOI: 10.33545/26174693.2019.v3.i1a.31