Spectrum of Thyroid Disorders in a Tertiary Health Facility in Jigawa State, Northwest Nigeria - A Hospital-based...

Thyroid disorders (TDs) remain the second-most common endocrine disease after diabetes mellitus worldwide. However, there is a paucity of data on the prevalence and pattern of TDs in northern Nigeria. The study aimed to document the baseline spectrum of thyroid disorders as seen in the endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism (EDM) outpatient clinic, Department of Internal Medicine of Rasheed Shekoni Federal University Teaching Hospital (RSFUTH), Dutse, over a four-year period.

A retrospective hospital-based descriptive study design was used to review the medical records of all patients seen in the EDM outpatient clinic between September 2020 and August 2024. All endocrinology diagnoses classified according to the 10th revision of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD-10) were recorded. Information on demographic, source of referral, baseline clinical, and biochemical indices were analysed using SPSS version 20, and descriptive statistics were presented.

During the study period, a total of 30 patients' records who met the inclusion criteria were analysed. The mean age was 34.8 ± 10.2. The majority of the patients were female, contributing 76.7%, while males contributed 23.3%. The pattern of thyroid disorders was: Graves's disease among 14 (46.7%) of the patients, followed by toxic multinodular goitre (13%), nodular goitre (13.3%), simple goitre (13.3%), hypothyroidism (6.7%) and subclinical hypothyroidism (6.7%) respectively.

The most common thyroid disorder seen in RSFUTH was hyperthyroidism. Both sexes are affected, but with a female preponderance. There is a need for identifying the underlying risk factors from the identified areas with high burden of the condition, screening for early detection of cases and health education on thyroid disorders for early health-seeking behaviour, to prevent complications.