Background: the study was undertaken with an objective to study the spectrum of thyroid dysfunction in elderly and to correlate comorbidity with abnormal thyroid function.
Methods: a total of 246 subjects aged more than 60 years, admitted to General Medicine or attended the out-patient clinic who were presented with vague symptoms like easy fatigability and lethargy, were subjected to detailed clinical examination and thyroid function testing by biochemical means.
Results: a total of 246 patients were included in the study. Thyroid disorders were present in 51.2%. Clinical hypothyroidism in 8.13%, subclinical hypothyroidism in 4.88% cases, hyperthyroidism in 3.3% and Low tri-iodothyronine (T3) syndrome in about one third of our patients were noted. There were no correlation between the thyroid hormones and most of clinical and laboratory parametes. The prevalence of abnormal thyroid patterns were significantly high in patients with comorbidities in comparison to those without.
Conclusions: Elderly patients especially those with comorbidity have high prevalence of thyroid dysfunction. Clinical diagnosis is difficult to make because of vague symptomology and comorbid diseases. So, high clinical suspicion and thyroid function tests always helps in diagnosing the disease.