A study of thyroid dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus at new civil hospital, Surat, Gujarat, India

Background: Thyroid diseases and diabetes mellitus, as comorbid condition these together throw a great burden to medicine and humanity. Considering the ever increasing population of diabetics in our country and the significant causal relationship established by current literature, this study was undertaken.Methods: A thorough clinical history regarding diabetes mellitus (onset, duration), any history of long-term illness, any previous thyroid dysfunction, previous history of any kind of drug therapy, whether the patient was on insulin or oral hypoglycaemic drugs was sought. All diabetic patients were evaluated for thyroid dysfunction by testing thyroid profile (T3, T4 and TSH).Results: In the present study, out of the 100 diabetic patients, 18 (18%) patients had thyroid dysfunction and 82 (82%) patients were found to be euthyroid. The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction more in females as compared to males (68.75% vs 31.25%) and highest in the age group of >60 years. The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction found to be more in patients with HbA1C >7 as compared to patients with HbA1C <7. Out of 18 diabetic patients who had thyroid dysfunction, 05 (27.78%) had duration of diabetes >1 - 5 years and 08 (44.44%) had duration of diabetes 6 - 10 years. The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction found to be more in patients who had BMI >30 and patients who were on both oral hypoglycaemic agents and insulin.Conclusions: There is a high prevalence of thyroid disorders in patients of type 2 diabetes mellitus which found to be more in Females, Elderly patients, Patients with uncontrolled diabetes and BMI > 30.