Frequency of Subclinical Hypothyroidism in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Fnu Anum; Aasta Kumari; Mehak Gul; Shilpa Bai; Muhammad Haseeb; Kanza Mirza Maqsood; Amna Jamil; Faizan Shaukat; Maha Jahangir

doi:10.7759/cureus.25864

Frequency of Subclinical Hypothyroidism in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease

Cureus. 2022 Jun 12;14(6):e25864. doi: 10.7759/cureus.25864. eCollection 2022 Jun.

Authors

Fnu Anum¹, Aasta Kumari², Mehak Gul³, Shilpa Bai³, Muhammad Haseeb⁴, Kanza Mirza Maqsood¹, Amna Jamil⁵, Faizan Shaukat⁶, Maha Jahangir⁶

Affiliations

¹ Internal Medicine, Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women, Nawabshah, PAK.
² Internal Medicine, Chandka Medical College, Larkana, PAK.
³ Internal Medicine, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Karachi, PAK.
⁴ Internal Medicine, Allama Iqbal Medical College, Lahore, PAK.
⁵ Internal Medicine, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Karachi, PAK.
⁶ Internal Medicine, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, PAK.

Abstract

Introduction: Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is the progressive loss of function of the nephron over a long period of time. As the glomerular filtration rate falls, it leads to subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). This cross-sectional study is carried out to measure the frequency of SCH in CKD patients in our population.

Methods: This case-control research was undertaken at the nephrology unit of the Peoples University of Medical and Health Sciences for Women in Pakistan from March 2021 to January 2022. The research included 200 volunteers with documented evidence of CKD between the ages of 18 and 60 years. A case group of 200 people without CKD was also enlisted, matched by age, gender, and comorbidities. Data were recorded in a self-structured questionnaire and analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences® software (IBM Corp., Armonk, NY).

Results: Thyroid-stimulating hormone was significantly raised in participants with CKD (4.91 ± 1.10 mIU/L vs. 3.62 ± 0.72 mIU/L; p-value < 0.0001). A significant association between SCH and CKD was established (p-value < 0.00001).

Conclusion: Due to the positive correlation between SCH and CKD, multidisciplinary management, including a team of endocrinologists and nephrologists, is advised to keep a regular check on these patients.

Keywords: chronic kidney disease; estimated glomerular filtration rate (egfr); subclinical hypothyroidism; thyroid-stimulating hormone (tsh); thyroxine (t4).