Endocrine Abstracts

Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in the elderly women of Tabriz city, the largest city in North West Iran.

Design: Cross-sectional study.

Setting and participants: By using the records of the local household registry, a sample of 1150 subjects was drawn by simple random sampling. After the exclusion of nonresponse subjects, 1000 subjects aged between 60 and 89 years (mean 64.5±5.4) were included in our survey.

Measurements: Tests of thyroid function including TSH concentration in all subjects; and free T4 concentration, free T3 concentration and anti-microsomal antibodies in those with abnormal TSH were conducted.

Results: Seventy-three (7.3%) participants had high (>4.5 mU/l), and 54 (5.4%) had low (<0.3 mU/l) TSH levels. The overall prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in the sample was 12.7%. Of the 73 participants with high TSH levels, 15 (20.5%) had overt hypothyroidism, and of the 54 participants with low TSH levels, 12 (22.2%) had overt hyperthyroidism. Only 1 participant (1.85%) had T3 toxicosis. High titers of anti-microsomal antibodies were found in 60.6% of those with high TSH levels.

Conclusion: The prevalence of abnormal biochemical thyroid function reported here is substantial and confirms previous reports in other populations. Individual symptoms were not very sensitive, but patients who report multiple thyroid symptoms warrant serum thyroid testing.

We found that the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction is high in elderly female population of East Azerbaijan. The results provide baseline information to settle public health plans and to track the changes.