Prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism in local adult obese population.

Objective: To find out the frequency of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) in local adult obese population and to determine the risk of cardiovascular events in patients with SCH using the 10-year Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) risk calculator. Study Design: Cross Sectional & Descriptive study design. Setting: Medicine Ward, PAF Hospital, Islamabad. Period: 20th July 2023 to 20th January 2024. Methods: A total of 200 patients of both gender with Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 28kg/m2 were included in the study. Blood samples were Collected from all patients and sent to the hospital laboratory for performing thyroid function tests and fasting lipid profile. Patients found to have SCH (TSH levels more than reference range with normal T3 and T4 levels) had their ten-year risk of cardiovascular events determined using the ASCVD Risk Calculator. A calculated 10 year ASCVD risk of ≥7.5% was concluded significant. Results: Age range in this study was from 20 to 65 years with mean age of 43.295±8.85 years, mean BMI 30.960±1.53 Kg/m2, mean TSH 2.904±1.29 mIU/L (normal range 0.27 to 4.2 mIU/ml), mean T3 103.230±6.86 ng/dL (normal range 94 to 170 ng/dL) and mean T4 was 10.092±1.26 μg/dL (normal range 5 to 11 μg/dL). Subclinical hypothyroidism was observed in 16% patients. Amongst these patients, increased cardiovascular event risk was present in 25% patients. Conclusion: Our study has concluded a high prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism among obese adult patients and increased risk of cardiovascular events in patients with SCH.