Association between type 2 diabetes mellitus and hypothyroidism: a case-control study

• Published in: International journal of general medicine Vol. 11; pp. 457 - 461
• Main Authors: Alsolami, Anas Awad, Alshali, Khalid Z, Albeshri, Marwan Ahmad, Alhassan, Shikih Hussain, Qazli, Abdalrhman Mohammed, Almalki, Ahmed Saad, Bakarman, Marwan A, Mukhtar, Abdel Moniem
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: New Zealand Dove Medical Press Limited 01.01.2018; Taylor & Francis Ltd; Dove Medical Press
• Subjects: Analysis; Bias; Cardiovascular disease; Cognitive biases; Comorbidities; Comorbidity; Complications; Coronary heart disease; Coronary vessels; Diabetes; Diabetes mellitus; Diabetes therapy; Diabetic foot; Epidemiology; Foot diseases; Glucose; Hospitals; Hypertension; Hypoglycemic agents; Hypotheses; Hypothyroidism; Insulin; Laboratories; Low density lipoprotein receptors; Medical records; Medical research; Medicine; Offset printing; Original Research; Patients; Risk factors; Studies; Surgery; Thyroid gland; Thyroid hormones; Type 2 diabetes; Variables; Saudi Arabia; diabetes mellitus; comorbidities; complications; hypothyroidism
• ISSN: 1178-7074; 1178-7074
• DOI: 10.2147/IJGM.S179205

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM-II) is highly prevalent in Saudi Arabia and only few studies have assessed it as a risk factor for hypothyroidism. This study aimed to examine the association between DM-II and hypothyroidism. We conducted a hospital-based case-control study. As cases, we included all adults admitted to King Abdulaziz University Hospital (KAUH) with laboratory-confirmed hypothyroidism. As controls, we drew a random sample of patients admitted to the orthopedic clinic at KAUH with laboratory-confirmed absence of hypothyroidism. We extracted data from the medical records regarding age, sex, presence of DM-II, HbA1c, comorbidities, treatment, and complications. We used multivariate logistic regression to identify factors associated with hypothyroidism. We included 121 cases and 121 controls. In comparison to controls, cases were older ( =0.005), had higher prevalence of DM-II ( <0.001), had higher levels of HbA1c ( =0.03), used insulin ( <0.001) and oral hypoglycemic drugs ( <0.001) more often, and suffered more often from hypertension ( <0.001), coronary artery disease (CAD) ( <0.001), stroke ( =0.04), diabetic foot ( <0.001), and nephropathy ( <0.001). According to multivariate regression, the risk of hypothyroidism was significantly increased among patients with DM-II (OR=4.14; 95% CI=20.20-7.80; <0.001) and CAD (OR=14.15; 95% CI=1.80-111.43; =0.01). Patients with DM-II were at increased risk of developing hypothyroidism. Adequate management and control of DM-II might reduce the risk of developing hypothyroidism. Further research using a prospective cohort study design is needed to confirm these findings. Patients with DM-II had an increased risk of developing hypothyroidism.