Association between vitamin D deficiency and hypothyroidism: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2012

• Published in: BMC endocrine disorders Vol. 21; no. 1; p. 224
• Main Authors: Appunni, Sandeep, Rubens, Muni, Ramamoorthy, Venkataraghavan, Saxena, Anshul, Tonse, Raees, Veledar, Emir, McGranaghan, Peter
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England BioMed Central Ltd 12.11.2021; BioMed Central; BMC
• Subjects: Adult; Age; Aged; Alcohol; Alfacalcidol; Autoantibodies; Autoantibodies - immunology; Autoimmune; Autoimmunity; Body mass index; Calcifediol; Creatinine; Diabetes; Disease; Female; Health care; Health surveys; Humans; Hypertension; Hypothyroidism; Hypothyroidism - epidemiology; Hypothyroidism - immunology; Immune system; Iodine; Laboratories; Logistic Models; Low vitamin D; Male; Medical screening; Middle Aged; Multivariate Analysis; Nitrogen; Nutrient deficiency; Nutrition; Nutrition Surveys; Odds Ratio; Patients; Questionnaires; Regression analysis; Socioeconomic factors; Statistical analysis; Surveys; Thyroglobulin; Thyroid; Thyroid gland; Thyroid hormones; Thyroid peroxidase; United States - epidemiology; Variables; Vitamin D; Vitamin D deficiency; Vitamin D Deficiency - epidemiology; Vitamin deficiency; United States; United States > US; Low vitamin D; Autoimmune; Thyroglobulin; Thyroid peroxidase; Hypothyroidism
• ISSN: 1472-6823; 1472-6823
• DOI: 10.1186/s12902-021-00897-1

Many smaller studies have previously shown a significant association between thyroid autoantibody induced hypothyroidism and lower serum vitamin D levels. However, these finding have not been confirmed by large-scale studies. In this study, we evaluated the relationship between hypothyroidism and vitamin D levels using a large population-based data. For this study, we used National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) during the years 2007-2012. We categorized participants into three clinically relevant categories based on vitamin D levels: optimal, intermediate and deficient. Participants were also split into hypothyroid and hyperthyroid. Weighted multivariable logistic regression analyses were used to calculate the odds of being hypothyroid based on vitamin D status. A total of 7943 participants were included in this study, of which 614 (7.7%) were having hypothyroidism. Nearly 25.6% of hypothyroid patients had vitamin D deficiency, compared to 20.6% among normal controls. Adjusted logistic regression analyses showed that the odds of developing hypothyroidism were significantly higher among patients with intermediate (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.7, 95% CI: 1.5-1.8) and deficient levels of vitamin D (aOR, 1.6, 95% CI: 1.4-1.9). Low vitamin D levels are associated with autoimmune hypothyroidism. Healthcare initiatives such as mass vitamin D deficiency screening among at-risk population could significantly decrease the risk for hypothyroidism in the long-term.