Endocrine Abstracts

Introduction: Weight concerns are common in endocrine outpatients. Weight indices seem to have a complex interaction with thyroid function. The two have not been studied in eastern Mediterranean populations.

Methods: Prospective collection of baseline data on weight, BMI and thyroid function on consecutive patients presenting to an endocrinology outpatients. The setting included a medical centre in Limassol, Cyprus. Exclusion criteria were as follows: age less than 16 years, pregnant status and lack of data of any of fT₄, TSH, weight or height or a failure to obtain consent. The frequency of weight-related complaints was assessed as well as the relationship between weight and BMI versus fT4 and TSH.

Results: Fifty patients were included. Mean age was 47.8 years (S.D.=15.8) and 72% were female. Mean fT₄ was 15.1 pmol/l (S.D. 6.3) and mean TSH was 2.36mIU/L (S.D. 2.8). Mean weight was 77.5 kg (S.D. 21.8) and mean BMI was 27.9 kg/m² (S.D. 6.36); 60% of the patients were either overweight or obese. Weight problems were the presenting complaint of 56, 50 and 60% among the overall, normal BMI and euthyroid cohort, respectively. Thyroid function did not relate to weight indices apart from fT₄ being negatively and weakly associated with BMI (rho=−0.2984, P=0.0353); this relationship was no longer significant on multivariate linear regression analysis (P=0.185; adjusted for age, gender, smoking and thyroid medication status).

Discussion: Thyroid function does not appear to be related to weight and BMI. However, this may be due to the small number of subjects participating in this study. Interestingly, the majority of patients presenting to the endocrinology clinic perceive to have weight problems as their major concern and this is true for euthyroid and normoweight patients. Hence, the endocrinologist needs to be better trained in tackling weight-related concerns and better infrastructure is required from supporting specialties, such as dietetics and psychology.