Original Research Article
Year: 2019 | Month: June | Volume: 6 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 341-349
An Observational Cross Sectional Study to Evaluate the Impact of Thyroid Hypo Function on Anxiety and Depression among Hypothyroid Females of Reproductive Age Group in Eastern India
Dr. Samarjit Koner1, Dr. Arunima Chaudhuri2
1Demonstrator Department of Physiology, College of Medicine and Sagore Dutta Hospital (Affiliated to West Bengal University of Health Sciences), Kamarhati, West Bengal, India.
2Associate Professor Department of Physiology, Rampurhat Government Medical College and Hospital (Affiliated to West Bengal University of Health Sciences), Rampurhat, West Bengal, India.
Corresponding Author: Dr. Arunima Chaudhuri
ABSTRACT
Background: Thyroid hormone affects the central nervous system during developmental phase and also throughout life and thyroid dysfunction may result in significant changes in mental health.
Aims: To evaluate the impact of thyroid hypofunction on anxiety and depression in females of reproductive age group in Eastern region of India.
Materials & methods: The present observational cross sectional epidemiological study was conducted on 175 hypothyroid subjects in Burdwan Medical College for a time span of 12 months after taking Institutional ethical clearance. 75 controls were also enrolled for the study. The two groups were age matched. Serum TSH and FT4 levels were estimated. Patients were assessed for anxiety and depression using Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The computer software SPSS, version 16.0 was used for analyzing data.
Results: Among hypothyroid subjects 28% was with anxiety and 22.28% was with depression whereas 8% anxiety and 5.33% depression found out of 75 controls. Significant difference was noticed between control and hypothyroid subjects for mean TSH(P<0.0001), mean FT4(P<0.0001), mean HADS-A score(P:0.0001) and mean HADS-D score(P<0.0001). No significant difference was found for mean age (Age in years: 30.85±6.43 vs. 31.66 ±6.86; P value: 0.384) between control and hypothyroid subjects. HADS-A score for anxiety was positively correlated with serum TSH (R: 0.174, P:0.0213) and was negatively correlated with Sr. FT4 (R: - 0.288, P:0.00011) Also HADS-D score for depression was positively correlated with serum TSH (R:0.636, P<0.00001) and was negatively correlated with Sr. FT4 (R: - 0.291, P:0.000093).
Conclusion: Occurrence of anxiety and depression was significantly more in hypothyroid subjects as compared to controls. A positive correlation was observed between anxiety, depression scores and TSH levels. So, it maybe concluded that subjects with hypothyroidism are at higher risk of developing anxiety and depression and screening tests needs to be administered for early detection of such mental disorders in hypothyroid subjects.
Key words: Hypothyroidism, Anxiety, Depression, FT4, TSH. HADS
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