PREVALENCE OF THYROID DISORDERS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL IN PUNJAB

Background: Thyroid disorders are amongst the most prevalent endocrine disorders in our country. In India, 42 million suffer from thyroid disorders. Aim: To find out the prevalence of thyroid disorders in Punjab. Material and methods: A total of 1370 patients presenting to the Clinical Biochemistry Lab with suspicion of thyroid disorder  in Gian Sagar Medical College and Hospital, Ramnagar, Rajpura,Patiala  were enrolled for this study. Overnight fasting samples of the patients were taken in plain vacutainers and the serum separated was analysed for thyroid function tests (T3, T4 and TSH) on the same day on an instrument based on chemiluminescence. Results: The prevalence of thyroid disorders was found to be 24.2% (332) in the study population. 75.8% (1038) were found to be euthyroid. Amongst the patients with thyroid dysfunction, hypothyroidism has been seen in 19.5% ( subclinical hypothyroidism 17%, overt hypothyroidism 2.5%) and hyperthyroidism in 4.7% ( subclinical hyperthyroidism 2.3%, overt hyperthyroidism 2.4%).Maximum number of hypothyroid patients were seen in the age group of 40-49 years and hyperthyroid patients were seen in the age group of 20-29 years.  Both hypothyroidism and  hyperthyroidism have been found to be common in females. Also, the mean ± SD levels of TSH in both subclinical and overt hypothyroidism and subclinical and overt hyperthyroidism have been found to be clinically significant. Conclusions: We have tried to provide a baseline regarding the prevalence of thyroid disorders in the population of Punjab.