Prevalence of thyroid disorders in antenatal women and its impact on maternal and foetal outcome

Abstract

Introduction: Thyroid disorders are the commonest endocrine disorders affecting women of reproductive age group. The most frequent thyroid disorder in pregnancy is maternal hypothyroidism. Antenatal period can be viewed as a state in which a combination of events concurs to modify the thyroidal economy. Thyroid dysfunction has varied impact on pregnancy outcome. In this study we have assessed the prevalence and the impact of thyroid disorders among antenatal woman registered in the Urban Health Training Centre of a Tert iary care teaching hospital in Kerala, Southern India. Materials and Methods: A prospective observational study was done among 451 antenatal women registered in the Urban Health Training centre of a Tertiary care hospital. Prevalence of thyroid disorders was assessed based on TSH, Free T4 and Anti TPO antibody status. Maternal and Foetal outcomes with respect to their Thyroid function status were also evaluated. Results: The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in pregnancy was 22.39%, subclinical hypothyroidism (20.63%) was the most common thyroid disorder among these women. Statistically significant association was found between thyroid disorders and maternal complications (P value=<0.0000001), were as no such significant association was found with regards to foetal outcome (P value=0.5) and antenatal thyroid dysfunction. Conclusions: This study concludes that there is a high prevalence of thyroid disorder in pregnancy. Subclinical hypothyroidism was found to be the major thyroid disorder as per this study.