A retrospective analysis of 436 elderly patients with type 2 diabetic mellitus combined with thyroid dysfunction

Objective To investigate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in elderly type 2 diabetic mellitus(T2DM) patients.Methods 436 cases of T2DM elderly patients who were treated in our hospital from January 2007 to December 2010 were divided into T2DM elderly group,and 372 cases of healthy elderly people who took physical examination in our hospital in the same period were divided into control group,the thyroid function was checked.Thyroid ultrasound scan was given to the T2DM group.Results The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in T2DM group was 31.65%,of which prevalence of hypothyroidism accounted for 22.70%(9.63% of hypothyroidism,13.07% of subclinical hypothyroidism) was significantly higher than the prevalence of hyperthyroidism,which accounted for 8.94%(4.12% of hyperthyroidism,4.81% of subclinical hyperthyroidism).The risk of female suffered from thyroid disease were significantly higher than that of male(P 0.05).186 cases(42.66%) were TPOAb positive,158 cases(36.23%) were TgAb positive,female had higher rates of TPOAb(+) and TgAb(+) than male(P 0.01).The incidence of thyroid nodules of elderly T2DM group was 74.08%,the incidence rate between single nodules and multiple nodules had no significantly difference(48.9% vs 51.08%,P 0.05).The detection rate of nodules had no significant difference between male and female(P 0.05).Conclusion Elderly patients with T2DM have higher incidence of thyroid disease,which may affect the diabetes and prognosis.Screening and regular following-up the thyroid function,thyroid antibodies and thyroid morphology of elderly patients with T2DM have important clinical significance.