Subclinical hypothyroidism in elderly women attending an outpatient clinic.

Background: The object was to determine the frequency of subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) in elderly women and study its relation to serum lipids, hypertension, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease.

Material/methods: A sample of 257 patients was randomly selected among women above the age of 50 visiting the King Abdulaziz University outpatient clinic. All were examined for thyroid function. Positive cases of SH were further tested for thyroid antibodies, hypothyroid symptoms, and goiter. Data were collected from the cases and a control group regarding age, presence of hypertension, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease, and lipoprotein levels and body mass index (BMI) values. Comparative analysis was performed between the cases and controls regarding dyslipidemia, BMI, hypertension, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease after age adjustment with logistic regression.

Results: Ninety patients out of 257 (35%) had SH. Positive thyroid antibodies were present in 55 (61%), goiter in 8 (9%), and hypothyroid symptoms in 22 (24%). In multiple regression analysis, SH cases were found to have lower risk for hypertension, ischemic heart disease, and diabetes than the controls after adjustment for age: OR 1.5 (95% CI: 0.8-2.83), 2.17 (0.75-6.28), 2.67 (1.50-4.76), respectively; the p-values were found to be significant for diabetes (0.19, 0.14, <0.001). However, there were no significant differences between cases and controls regarding measurements of LDL and cholesterol: 3.3+/-1.1 mmol/l and 5.5+/-1.2 mmol/l vs. 3.4+/-0.9 mmol/l and 5.4+/-1.1 mmol/l, respectively.

Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of SH among our sample, with no increased risk of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, ischemic heart disease, or diabetes.