Assessment of thyroid hormones profile among medically referred individuals in Sulaimania

الملخص EN

Background : Thyroid disorders are common problems with significant public health implications.

Early detection and treatment of these disorders can prevent serious morbidity.

The frequency of abnormal thyroid hormones profile and its relationship to traditional thyroidal symptoms particularly in individuals with subclinical thyroid dysfunction remain unclear.

Objective : To determine the abnormal thyroid hormone profile in a large number of individuals referred to a consultant laboratory in Sulaimania.

Material and methods : A total of 9795 individuals referred to Alshahid-Hadi Consultant Hormonal Laboratory in Sulaimania were invited to participate in the study with a questionnaire and blood samples.

Results : Patients with previously diagnosed hypo-and hyperthyroidism were 11.2 % and 4.9 % in females and 8.4 % and 4.0 % in males respectively.

In females, the percentage of both hypo- and hyperthyroidism increased with age while in males, the percentage of thyroid dysfunction increased with age reaching the peaks at 6th decade for hypothyroidism and 5th decade for hyperthyroidism after which they tend to decline.

Abnormalities of thyroid hormones profile among the previously diagnosed patients treated by thyroidectomy, carbimazole and thyroxine were 20.9 %, 8.9 % and 19.3 % respectively.

Thyroid hormones profile confirmed the initial clinical diagnosis of hypo-and hyperthyroidism in 16.3 % and 14.5 % respectively.

The frequency of both elevated and suppressed TSH levels in individuals without former or present thyroid disorders were higher in females (6.5 % and 1.0 %) than males (3.8 % and 0.68 %) respectively and were higher at an older age group (> 45 years).

Conclusions : The present study showed that abnormal thyroid hormones profile occurs frequently in patients at older age groups.

Clinical and laboratory follow up may be essential to prevent disease progression in those who have abnormal TSH level alone without obvious cause.

Abnormal thyroid hormones profiles were recorded in a large number of patients taking thyroid medications or have had thyroidectomy.