Hypothyroidism and aging: the Rosses' survey

An earlier impression of a high prevalence of hypothyroidism in a general practice (4,190 patients including 1,544 adult females aged 18 years or more with 544 aged 50 years or more) in the Rosses, a coastal area in the northwest of Ireland was confirmed by this study. The accumulated prevalence of overt spontaneous primary hypothyroidism was 8.6% in 544 females aged 50 years or more but only 0.9% in the 1,000 females between 18 and 50 years of age. This prevalence was approximately twice that of an Irish National general practice population sample of 4,314 females aged 50 years or more (8.6% vs. 4.6%) p < 0.001. The reasons for this difference are unclear but may reflect the high level of opportunistic screening carried out in West Donegal. Thyroid peroxidase antibodies measured by radioimmunoassay were found in 75.6% of hypothyroid patients compared to 18.6% of practice controls (p < 0.01). Neither HLA-DRB1, DQA1, and DQB1 phenotype frequencies nor dietary iodine intake (median urinary iodine excretion 104 microg/L) appeared to be contributory factors. The finding of an 8.6% accumulated prevalence of hypothyroidism in females greater than 50 years of age when a population is aggressively investigated demonstrates the relative importance of its contribution to total morbidity and suggests that the disorder may be underdiagnosed, thus supporting the concept of targeted screening in this age group.