Clinical profile of patients with hypothyroidism

Abstract

Background: Patients with hypothyroidism present a morbid life. The quality of life is low. Under this scenario, understanding the clinical profile of these patients helps to modest their quality of life by the physician. Objectives: To study the clinical profile of patients with hypothyroidism Methods: A hospital based cross sectional study was carried out to study the clinical profile of patients with hypothyroidism. Institutional Ethics Committee permission was obtained and informed consent was taken from each and every patient. A pre tested, semi structured questionnaire was prepared and the data was collected. Detailed history, complete general examination was carried out. Data was entered and analyzed. Results: females had a higher incidence of hypothyroidism than men. Most common symptoms are of dry skin, hair loss, weight gain, lethargy, constipation, menorrhagia and hoarseness of voice. On general examination most common findings are weight gain and dry skin found in around 49.99% and 83.33% of patients respectively. Goiter was found in 16.6% and pallor in 26.66% of patients. Pulse < 60 /min was found in 6 patients and BP above 140/90 mmHg was found in 3.33% of patients. Conclusion: This study comprised of 30 patients, all of them were newly diagnosed hypothyroid patients, with no other co-morbidity. As in most literature, there was a female preponderance in this study. Most patients belonged to the age groups of 21-60 years. The most common of the symptoms included weight gain, hair loss, dry skin, hoarseness of voice, lethargy, cold intolerance and constipation.

Keywords

• hypothyroidism
• patients
• clinical profile