Prevalence of Thyroid Dysfunctions in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis at Tertiary Care Hospital

Abstract

Objective: To determine the burden of thyroid dysfunctions in Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) patients attending tertiary care hospital of Karachi, Pakistan. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted at rheumatology clinic of a Jinnah Post Graduate Medical Centre in Karachi, Pakistan from April 2019 to January 2021. All diagnosed cases of RA having seronegative or seropositive RA were consecutively enrolled. Clinical records and laboratory data of these patients were collected along with outcome variables. Results: Of 136 patients, thyroid abnormality was observed in 56 (41.2%) patients. In particular, 80 (58.8%) had normal, 8 (5.9%) had hypothyroidism, 14 (10.3%) had hyperthyroidism, 32 (10.5%) had subclinical hypothyroidism, and 2 (1.5%) had subclinical hyperthyroidism. A significantly lower hemoglobin levels (p-value <0.001), mean corpuscular volume (p-value 0.011), total leucocyte count (p-value 0.004), and platelet counts (p-value 0.040) were observed in patients with thyroid abnormality than those without thyroid abnormality. Furthermore, a significantly lower urea (p-value <0.001) and creatinine levels (p-value <0.001) were also observed among patients with thyroid abnormality than those without thyroid abnormality. Conclusion: In patients with RA, thyroid dysfunction has been shown to be highly prevalent. Subclinical hypothyroidism, the most common thyroid disorder and obvious hyperthyroidism were observed.