Association Between Anthropometric Measurements and Mediterranean Lifestyle in Women Diagnosed with Hashimoto’s Thyroiditis: Data from the Mediterranean Region

Abstract

Background/Objectives: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis (HT) is the most common autoimmune disease which lowers a patient’s quality of life. Our study aimed to assess the association between Mediterranean lifestyle and anthropometric measurements in patients with HT. Methods: This study was conducted with 120 female patients previously diagnosed with HT. The ‘Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener-(MEDAS)’ and ‘MEDiterranean LIFEstyle-(MEDLIFE)’ scales were used to assess diet quality and lifestyle. Also, some anthropometric measurements were collected. Spearman’s Correlation Test was used to determine correlations between two quantitative variables. Results: The average age of the participants was 37.49 ± 7.47 years. The average diet quality scores were 7.80 ± 1.93 for MEDAS and the total life quality score was 16.41 ± 3.74 for MEDLIFE. Significant negative correlations were observed between the MEDLIFE total score and hip and waist circumferences, body weight, and body fat (%) (p < 0.05), as well as with the score of physical activity, rest, social habits, and conviviality (p < 0.05). Furthermore, an increase the Mediterranean dietary habits score was associated with a decrease in these measurements (p < 0.05). Conclusions: The MEDLIFE score, beyond only the Mediterranean dietary habits sub-score, was found to be associated with lower anthropometric measurements in patients with HT, who are at higher risk of pre-obesity and obesity.