Clinical Features and Associated Risk Factors for Thyroid Eye Disease Among Goiter Patients Who Attended Jimma University Medical Center Surgical Referral Clinic, Jimma Town, Ethiopia

Abstract

Introduction Eye involvement is the most common extrathyroidal manifestation of Graves disease. Regarding our study area, there is no previous study done on the prevalence of thyroid eye disease among goiter patients. Methods: Institution-based cross-sectional study was carried out among 211 patients seen in Jimma University Medical Center surgical referral clinic from April to July 2018. The collected data were coded and entered into Epi data version 3.1 and analyzed using SPSS version 20. Variables having a P-value of less than 0.25 in the bivariate analyses were entered into a multivariable regression analysis to control the confounding variables. Results: Two hundred eleven goiter patients presented for care at JUMC surgical referral clinic over the 3 months study period; 57 (27%) of them were found to have thyroid eye disease. Lid retraction (40; 19%) was the most frequently observed sign of thyroid eye disease, whereas proptosis was found only in one case and no exposure to keratopathy or dysthyroid optic neuropathy was found. The factors that had statistically significant association with the prevalence of thyroid eye disease were thyroid dysfunction [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 2.781, (95% CI, 1.362–5.678) P = 0.005], smoking [AOR = 6.391, (95% CI, 1.868–21.860) P = 0.003], high blood pressure [AOR = 2.062, (95% CI, 1.001–4.251] P = 0.050] and high pulse rate [AOR=2.277 (95% CI, 1.003–5.167) P = 0.049]. Conclusion: Thyroid eye disease among goiter patients is common and many patients are followed up for goiter.