Pilot Study to Determine the Prevalence of Thyroid Dysfunction in Elderly People Attending the Outpatients Geriatrics Clinic in Ain Shams University Hospital

Abstract

Thyroid dysfunction was found to be relatively common m elderly patients, but its clinical presentation varied, it may be classical, atypical or asymptomatic presentation and discovered accidentally during routine testing

This thesis is a pilot cross sectional study to determine the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in the elderly patients attending to the outpatient geriatric clinic in Ain Shams University Hospital.

This study was conducted on 100 elderly patients, aging bet\veen 60 - 90 years, who were selected randomly from the outpatient geriatric clinic in Ain Shams University hospital.

Both males and females were represented in this study (46 males) and (54 females).

Every patient in the study sample was subjected to: comprehensive geriatric assessment, ECG and thyroid profile.

This study shows that the total prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in the elderly patients attending to an outpatient geriatric clinic at Ain Shams University Hospital was 42%.

The most common type of sick euthyroid syndrome in the elderly is the low total T3 state, and the least common type of sick euthyroid syndrome in the elderly is the high total T state.