Prevalence of Thyroid Disorder in Pregnant Women Visiting a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital: A Descriptive Cross-Sectional Study

Abstract

Objective: To determine the prevalence of thyroid disorders among patients attending the antenatal clinic.

Methodology: This descriptive cross-sectional study was done during January 2019 to June 2019 at the Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics of Civil Hospital Karachi.  A total of 182 pregnant women from 8 to 26 weeks of pregnancy on their first antenatal visit were selected for this study. Venous blood sampling of the patients was done for thyroid hormones test. All information was recorded in a predefined proforma by the researcher herself.  Data analysis was done using SPSS version 26.

Results: A total of 182 pregnant women were studied for thyroid disorders during pregnancy. The average age of the women was 25.29±4.27 years. whereas the average parity of the women was 1.46±1.04, average gestation age was 20.60±5.07 weeks, the average level of TSH was 2.52±0.81 and free T4 was 0.92±0.16. Thyroid disorder was found in 19.8% of pregnant women, with a subclinical hypothyroidism rate of 12.1%, overt hypothyroidism 4.1%, subclinical hyperthyroidism 2.2%, and overt hyperthyroidism 0.7%. There was a statistically significant correlation between age and the prevalence of thyroid disorders (0.014), but there was no association between parity and the disease (p=>0.05)

Conclusion: As per the study conclusion, the prevalence of thyroid disorder was observed to be high among 19.80% of pregnant women. Thus, universal screening of pregnant women for thyroid disorders should be considered, especially in a country like ours where there is a high frequency of undiagnosed thyroid disorders.