Abstract
Background: Thyroid dysfunction is a major public health problem. However, its burden in Saudi primary care has not been studied.
Objectives: To find out the prevalence of hypothyroid among the patients who attended the Qatif-3 primary health care (RHO) center, Qatif, Saudi Arabia.
Materials and Methods: A primary-care based study was undertaken by using the data which was retrieved from the thyroid function tests, which included 14 and TSH, of individuals >= 15 years old from the laboratory registers maintained in Qatif-3 PHC Center, from 1st September, 2014 to 30th August, 2016. Descriptive statistics and analysis were done using SPSS version 20 software.
Results: The total number of adult cases was 75, which included 13 males (17.3%). The prevalence of hypothyroid (TSH >= 5.5 mu U/ml) was 0.7%. A higher prevalence of 2.5% and 1.5% was observed in the subjects whose ages were 45-60 years and above 60 years, respectively with no significant difference (p.076). The incidence was 18 (17 per thousand of adult population) per year. The mean age of first presentation was 44.9 (SD 13.6) years, The median TSH level at presentation was 7.3 mu U/ml.
Conclusion: Females and people of mid ages were more vulnerable to hypothyroid in this population, Hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism were common in Saudi primary care. PHC providers must be aware about its early detection and management,