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A Prospective Study of Thyroid Function Test in Geriatric Population and its Clinical Correlation.

Background and Objectives
Thyroid disorders in elderly population are of prime importance as it has emphasis on various metabolic activity and disease states. There is limited data regarding the prevalence of thyroid disorders in elderly from India. This study was an attempt to assess the thyroid function tests in elderly population and to correlate them with clinical symptoms.


Methodology
This one year hospital based prospective cross sectional study was done in outpatient Department, Department of General Medicine and Geriatric Medicine, KLES Dr. Prabhakar Kore Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Belagavi on a total of 100 elderly patients who presented for regular checkups with clinical suspicion of thyroid disorders from January 2017 to December 2017. The selected patients were investigated for T3, T4, TSH and thyroid antibodies.


Results
Majority of the patients were females (67%), the male to female ratio was 1:2.03. The mean age was 67.69±7.21 years. The mean T3 levels were 1.32±0.88 ng/mL, the mean T4 levels were 7.69±4.13 µg/mL and mean TSH levels were 12.31±22.82 mcIU/mL. The mean TPO antibodies were noted as 95.97±211.82 IU/mL. Thyroid abnormalities were diagnosed in 28% of the patients and hypothyroidism was the most common thyroid abnormality noted in 12% of the patients. No association was found between thyroid abnormalities and sex (p=0.349) as well as age (p=0.946). Easy fatiguability (94%) and generalized weakness (93%) were the common clinical complaints and mild pallor was the common clinical sign noted in 26% of the patients followed by dry/coarse skin in 25% of the patients. Thyroid abnormalities were significantly associated with easy fatiguability, generalized weakness, swelling of limb/face, weight gain, constipation and with clinical signs of pallor, dry/coarse skin, hoarseness, ankle jerk and oedema. Family history of thyroid disorders was reported by 47% of the patients and it was significantly associated with of thyroid disorders (p=0.001).


Conclusion and Interpretation
There is higher incidence of thyroid abnormalities among elderly population in the study area and overt hypothyroidism is the common thyroid abnormality.