Thyroid disorders in women of Puducherry.

Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), Free Thyroxine (FT(4)) and Free Triiodothyronine (FT(3)) were assayed in 505 women of this region. 60 women had previous history of thyroid disease. The remaining 445 women formed the "Disease free group". A "Reference group" was obtained by excluding women with previous and present history of thyroid dysfunction. Of the total 505 women examined 15.8% had thyroid dysfunction and 84.2% were euthyroid. 11.5% were hypothyroid (9.5% sub-clinical) and 1.8% hyperthyroid (1.2% clinical). The geometric mean TSH for the total population was 2.65 μIU/ml. It was significantly (p=0.025) lower in the reference population 2.17 μIU/ml. There was no significant difference in the FT(3) and FT(4) values between groups. 19% of women over 60 years had elevated TSH above 4.5 μIU/ml. The 2.5 and 97.5 percentiles of the reference population was 1.1-5.2 μIU/ml. 6.1% of women in the reference group had TSH levels above the reference intervals. Hypothyroidism particularly sub-clinical hypothyroidism is predominantly present amongst women in this iodine sufficient region. Evaluation of thyroid status could help in early detection and treatment.