Past abortions as a risk factor of hypothyroidism in women working as nurses in a tertiary care hospital in northern India

Aim: To study past abortions as a causative factor for hypothyroidism in nurses working at IGMC Shimla. Methods: This retrospective cohort targeted IGMC hospital nursing staff with completed family who were approached individually and asked to fill a preformed questionnaire after informed consent. The study was conducted between January 2021 and December 2021. Women who had previous thyroid surgery/radioiodine treatment or hypothyroidism before or within one year of marriage were excluded. The association between past abortions and hypothyroidism was then studied. Results: We enrolled 178 married nurses in our study with a mean age of 46+/- 16.3 years. The mean BMI of the nurses under study was 24.80+3.822 kilogram/metre2. 77 women (46%) in our study population had a history of abortion with abortions constituting 53% of total pregnancies. From the study it was found that there was a significant association between abortion and subsequent hypothyroidism (Relative Risk: 1.9444, p value of 0.0331). Conclusion: There was a significant association of past abortion with subsequent hypothyroidism.