Abstract

Background: Diabetes mellitus (DM) and thyroid dysfunction (TD) are two common endocrine disorders. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a major health burden worldwide with many patients encountering thyroid dysfunction later in their life. Various studies have found that diabetes and thyroid disorders mutually influence each other and both disorders tend to coexist. However, the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and associated clinical variables in these patients is an important correlation to study. The unrecognized TD may adversely affect the metabolic control and add more risk to an already predisposing scenario for cardiovascular diseases. Aim & Objective: The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus. Study Design: Observational cross sectional study. Methodology: Subjects with (T2DM) attending OPD in medicine department of GMC Aurangabad and some subjects with known history of T2DM from social circle were included in this study. Whereas those diabetic patients with known thyroid disorders, complications of diabetes mellitus, history of other illnesses, and hyperlipidaemia as well as on corticosteroids therapy and medications affecting thyroid levels were excluded from this study. Method of sample analysis: Serum freeT3 , freeT4 , TSH were estimated in the central clinical laboratory on cobas e411 biochemistry immunoassay analyser which used the principle of electrochemiluminiscence for estimating these hormones. Method of statistical analysis: The statistical analysis was performed using SPSS software. The statistical data was systematically analysed and was represented in form of mean + S.D. Unpaired t-test was used to compare between two means of all parametric continuous variable and p-value < 0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Result: Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction among T2DM patients was found to be 13.4%. Gender-specific prevalence was found to be higher in females as compared to males.Conclusion: We conclude that screening for thyroid disease among patients with diabetes mellitus should be routinely performed considering the incidence of new cases diagnosed and the possible aggravation of the classical risk factors such as hypertension and dyslipidemia, arising from an undiagnosed thyroid dysfunction.

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