Diabetes among Patients with Overt Primary Hypothyroidism Visiting the Outpatient Department of General Medicine of a Tertiary Care Centre: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Abstract

Introduction: Thyroid diseases are one of the commonest endocrine disorders and hypothyroidism is the commonest among them. There are many publications about hypothyroidism prevalence in diabetes, however, reports of diabetes in hypothyroidism are scarce. This study aimed to find out the prevalence of diabetes among patients with overt primary hypothyroidism visiting the Outpatient Department of General Medicine of a tertiary care centre. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among adults with overt primary hypothyroidism who attended the Department of General Medicine of a tertiary care centre. Data from 1 November 2020 to 30 September 2021 were collected between 1 December 2021 and 30 December 2021 from the hospital records. Ethical approval was obtained from Institutional Review Committee (Reference number: MDC/DOME/258). Convenience sampling method was used. Out of all patients with different thyroid disorders, consecutive patients with overt primary hypothyroidism were included. The patients with incomplete information were excluded. Point estimate and 95% Confidence Interval were calculated. Results: Among total 520 patients with overt primary hypothyroidism, the prevalence of diabetes was 203 (39.04%) (34.83–43.25, 95% Confidence Interval), with 144 (70.94%) in female and 59 (29.06%) in male. Among 203 hypothyroid patients with diabetes, the proportion of female was more than that of male. Conclusions: The prevalence of diabetes among patients with overt primary hypothyroidism was higher than the other studies done in similar settings.