Successful withdrawal of thyroid hormone therapy in nursing home patients

Studies of community-dwelling patients have indicated that substantial numbers of patients might have had thyroid hormone therapy prescribed inappropriately and that thyroid hormone therapy in some can be discontinued without adverse effects or evidence of clinical hypothyroidism. We wanted to find out whether thyroid hormone therapy in selected nursing home patients could be withdrawn without adverse effect.

Participants for the study were drawn from four skilled nursing facilities in Connecticut. All patients on thyroid hormone therapy who resided in one of the four facilities at the time the study began were eligible if they met the inclusion criteria and gave consent to participate in the study. We measured baseline thyrotropin (TSH) levels and reduced thyroid hormone therapy by approximately onehalf if baseline TSH levels were 7 mU/L or less. If at a 1-month follow-up measurement a patient's TSH level was 7 mU/L or less, we discontinued thyroid hormone therapy. If TSH levels remained 7 mU/L or less at the next follow-up measurement 1 month later, we measured the free thyroxine (T4) level. If the free T4 level was normal, the patient remained off thyroid hormone therapy, and a final TSH value was measured after a further 2 months.

There were 915 patients residing at the four homes at the time the study began. One hundred fifteen were on thyroid hormone therapy; 40 had elevated TSH levels in their nursing home records; and 31 refused to participate in the study. Twenty-two patients were excluded because they died or were discharged before completion of the study, had an elevated baseline TSH reading, or were taking medications that could complicate the accurate measurement of TSH. Twenty-two patients began hormone withdrawal. One patient had an increase in psychiatric symptoms during the withdrawal phase. No other adverse effects were noted. Eleven patients (50%) had the thyroid hormone therapy withdrawn successfully.

Thyroid hormone therapy was successfully withdrawn from one half of the nursing home residents studied. Previous studies conducted in community-dwelling patients have shown similar findings. Many older patients began taking thyroid hormone therapy when younger either for inappropriate reasons or for what turned out to be transient hypothyroidism. If the findings of this study are generalizable for other nursing home residents, there are important implications for health and health care costs.