Prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in psychiatric inpatients: A cross sectional prevalence study

Thyroid dysfunction, despite its established connection to various psychiatric disorders, is underexplored in psychiatric inpatients, particularly in relation to mood disorders like depression and anxiety. A cross-sectional analysis was performed on 124 patients at a medical college, with first-episode psychiatric disorders. Thyroid function tests (TSH, T3, T4) revealed high rates of thyroid dysfunction, particularly in non-affective and affective psychoses, with common abnormalities including low TSH and high T4. Socio-demographic factors such as age, sex and family income influenced thyroid health. Thus, we show the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in psychiatric patients and emphasizing the need for routine thyroid function testing in psychiatric assessments to improve the management of mental illnesses.