SCREENING AND MANAGEMENT OF HYPOTHYROIDISM IN PREGNANCY: A CROSS-SECTIONAL SURVEY

ABSTRACT Background: To study prevalent current practice of our clinicians related to the treatment of both overt and subclinical hypothyroidism during pregnancy in Kurdistan region, Iraq. Materials and methods: In June 2020, we sent an electronic questionnaire on current practice relating to management of hypothyroidism in pregnancy to 213 clinicians of the three governorates of Kurdistan region, Iraq including Duhok, Sulmani, and Erbil who are managing pregnant patients with thyroid disease. Subsequently, we have analyzed responses from physician members. Results: 194 of responders represent clinicians from three governorates of Kurdistan region, Iraq were involved in this survey. With regard to screening , 76 (39%) of all the responders screened all pregnant females for the presence of thyroid gland dysfunction, and the remaining 119 (61%), consisting majority of responders, did not carry out any systemic screening for the thyroid dysfunction in pregnant females. For women with known hypothyroidism, 36.9% of responders only would recommend TSH level less than 2.5mIU/L as a best target for diagnosing hypothyroidism in first trimester of pregnancy. Regarding monitoring of the treatment of hypothyroidism in pregnancy, a minority of responders 27.2% suggested doing TSH as monitoring tool. Conclusion: Deficiencies in diagnosis and management of hypothyroidism during pregnancy were observed in our survey, highlighting the need for improvement of specialist education and quality of care offered to patients with thyroid disease during pregnancy in Kurdistan region, Iraq.