Association Between Anthropometric Measurements and Mediterranean Lifestyle in Women Diagnosed with Hashimoto's Thyroiditis: Data from the Mediterranean Region

Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) is the most common autoimmune disease which lowers a patient's quality of life. Our study aimed to assess the association between Mediterranean lifestyle and anthropometric measurements in patients with HT.

This study was conducted with 120 female patients previously diagnosed with HT. The 'Mediterranean Diet Adherence Screener-(MEDAS)' and 'MEDiterranean LIFEstyle-(MEDLIFE)' scales were used to assess diet quality and lifestyle. Also, some anthropometric measurements were collected. Spearman's Correlation Test was used to determine correlations between two quantitative variables.

The average age of the participants was 37.49 ± 7.47 years. The average diet quality scores were 7.80 ± 1.93 for MEDAS and the total life quality score was 16.41 ± 3.74 for MEDLIFE. Significant negative correlations were observed between the MEDLIFE total score and hip and waist circumferences, body weight, and body fat (%) (p < 0.05), as well as with the score of physical activity, rest, social habits, and conviviality (p < 0.05). Furthermore, an increase the Mediterranean dietary habits score was associated with a decrease in these measurements (p < 0.05).

The MEDLIFE score, beyond only the Mediterranean dietary habits sub-score, was found to be associated with lower anthropometric measurements in patients with HT, who are at higher risk of pre-obesity and obesity.