The use of filter paper-dried blood spots for thyroid-antibody screening in adults

Thyroid-antibody screening is recommended for several adult populations, including the elderly and pregnant and postpartum women, and analysis of filter paper-dried blood spots (DBSs) has been a cost-effective means of screening newborns for hypothyroidism for more than 30 years. The aim of this study was to show that DBS specimens can be used to test adults for thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) antibodies and thyroid antibodies during screening for thyroid disease in a community setting. Thyroid peroxidase antibody and thyroglobilin antibody enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits for serum have been adapted for use with DBSs. A TSH assay for newborn DBSs was adapted for the screening of adults. Parallel specimens, serum and DBSs, were collected during routine care of patients attending a thyroid clinic. In addition, 962 DBS specimens were collected from volunteers at community centers and nursing homes. Twelve months later, a second specimen was collected from each of 411 original volunteers. Antibody results are reported as normal and positive. Ninety-seven percent of the serum/DBS results correlated exactly. Of 962 volunteers from nursing homes and community centers, testing for antibodies was positive or indeterminate (borderline) in 266 (27%). Eighty percent of the patients with an initially normal TSH reading who were positive on the 12-month collection were positive for at least one antibody in the first collection. The use of DBSs is a convenient and efficient way to screen for thyroid antibody as a means of detecting occult thyroid disease in adults.