A Study on Prevalence of Thyroid Dysfunction and Dyslipidaemia in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in a Tertiary Care Hospital - Kottayam, Kerala

Abstract

BACKGROUND It has been noted of the interdependence and impact of diabetes mellitus and thyroid dysfunction on each other. Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction was found to be higher in individuals with diabetes mellitus. Most commonly associated thyroid dysfunction in diabetes was hypothyroidism. Hyperthyroidism can precipitate complications in diabetes mellitus. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and dyslipidaemia in type 2 diabetes mellitus patients. METHODS This cross-sectional study included a total number of 100 type-2 diabetic patients aged >15 years. All the patients were evaluated for thyroid dysfunction and dyslipidaemia by estimating triiodothyronine (T3), thyroxine (T4) and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and lipid profile [total cholesterol (TC), triglycerides (TGA-c), high density lipoprotein (HDL-C), low density lipoprotein (LDL-C)].The correlation of prevalence of thyroid disorder with gender distribution, age distribution, HbA1C, duration of diabetes, family history of thyroid disorder, body mass index (BMI), usage of oral hypoglycaemic agents (OHA’s) and insulin and dyslipidaemia was carried out. The observations and interpretations were recorded and results obtained were statistically analysed. This study was conducted from December 2018 to November 2019 at Government Medical College, Kottayam, Kerala. RESULTS The study revealed a high prevalence (26 %) of thyroid disorders in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), most common being hypothyroidism (20 %) which was further found to be more in females, patients with uncontrolled diabetes i.e. HbA1C values ≥ 8.7 or patients on OHA and patients with BMI > 25. High prevalence of dyslipidaemia in diabetics (62 %) was observed; of which 51 % had hypertriglyceridaemia, 49 % had decreased HDL-C, 47 % had hyper cholesterolaemia and 43 % had increased LDL-C. Only 30.6 % diabetics with dyslipidaemia had thyroid dysfunction. CONCLUSIONS Screening of thyroid dysfunction should be done in all diabetic patients especially in patients with poor glycaemic control as micro vascular complications were commonly observed in this group of patients with dual endocrine disorders. There is a high prevalence of dyslipidaemia in diabetics. KEYWORDS Diabetes Mellitus, Thyroid Dysfunction, Dyslipidemia