Prevalence of Thyroid Disorders among Adult Women Attending Medical OPD Clinics at 300-bedded Pyin Oo Lwin General Hospital

Thyroid gland disorders are the most common endocrine conditions. A hospital-based, cross-sectional descriptive study was carried out to identify thyroid hormone levels, different types of thyroid dysfunction and to find out the prevalence of thyroid disorders in adult women. It was done at 300-bedded Pyin Oo Lwin General Hospital during September 2016 through February 2017. A total of 115 adult women in the age 18-85 years (mean of 47.37±15.7 year) who were attending medical clinics OutPatient Department of study hospital were enrolled. Serum thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were determined by using Mini-vidas, fully automated Immunology analyzer at Pathology Research Division, Department of Medical Research (Pyin Oo Lwin Branch). Data entry and analysis were done by SPSS software 20.0 version. Among different age groups, highest number of subject lies between age group of 46-60 years. Thyroid function status was considered according to American Thyroid Association (ATA, 2000) and abnormalities in thyroid hormone levels were detected in 36/115 cases (31.7%) of participants. Hyperthyroidism was observed in 10 cases (8.7%) and hypothyroidism in 8 cases (7.0%). Subclinical hyperthyroidism was found in 12 cases (10.4%) and subclinical hypothyroidism was also seen in 6 cases (5.2%). High number of total subclinical hyperthyroidism was observed in 31-60 age groups. In age 18-30 years, no cases of hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism were observed, both hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism were more prevalent in above 60 years and subclinical hypothyroidism was prevalent in 31-45 years. Serum free T3, T4 and TSH were significantly different in various groups of thyroid dysfunction (p<0.001). This study highlights that thyroid dysfunction remains a common health problem among adult women and is useful for screening programs and clinical management of consequences of thyroid disorders in this area.