Reasons for Referring Patients for Determining the Hormonal Status of the Thyroid Gland From the Level of Primary Health Care in Sarajevo Canton.

Abstract

Background: Thyroid dysfunction includes hyper- and hypofunction of the thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism). The spectrum encompasses both subclinical and clinical disease presentation. The etiology is vast and varied, as are the risk factors and simptoms.

Objective: The main aim of the research is to indicate the leading symptom for initial thyroid hormone status evaluation, as well as to identify the distribution of positive and negative test results, and specific disorders according to sex and age groups.

Methods: The research is designed as a retrospective, clinical, descriptive study. There were 500 participants included, 355 female and 145 male. Patients were referred to the Department of endocrinology by their primary care physicians. The data was collected through patient documentation.

Results: The study included 500 participants, 71% of diagnostic requests made were for women. 80% of subjects had normal thyroid hormone status, p<0.001. Most requests were made for the 41-60 age group, p<0.001. Women had similar number of positive and negative test outcomes, as well as men. When it comes to the age groups, outcomes were similar in all of them, 15-23% positive and 77-85% negative. There were significant differences in the type of symptom expressed in both men and women, as well as all the age groups. Men reported high blood pressure as the most common symptom (30.3%), while women reported weight gain (22.3%). In the 18-25 and 26-40 age groups most common symptom belongs to the category of other. Age group of 41-60 reported weight gain as the most common symptom, while in participants older than 60, high blood pressure is proven to be the most common. Hypothyroidism is the most common disorder in both men and women, as well as in all age groups.

Conclusion: It is statistically proven that there were more requests made for women, and older age groups. Leading symptom for initial thyroid hormone status evaluation is high blood pressure. There is no statistically significant difference in distribution of thyroid disorders according to sex or age groups.