Endocrine and Diabetes Center, The Affiliated Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
Endocrine and Diabetes Center, Jiangsu Province Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Nanjing, China.
Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Jul 26;14:1216308. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1216308. eCollection 2023.
The correlation between thyroid autoimmune (TAI) disease and hypothyroidism in the elderly of different ages remains unclear. This study aimed to investigate the epidemiological characteristics of hypothyroidism, including subclinical hypothyroidism (Shypo) and overt hypothyroidism (Ohypo) in those aged ≥65 years from iodine-adequate areas and reveal the correlation between TAI and hypothyroidism in the elderly of different ages.
It was a cross-sectional study involving 2,443 subjects aged ≥65 years from two iodine-adequate areas in China by cluster sampling. They were assigned to the 65-69-, 70-79-, and ≥80-year-old age group. All subjects were surveyed by questionnaires and received physical examinations, laboratory testing, and thyroid ultrasound. Epidemiological characteristics of thyroid diseases in the elderly were compared among the three groups. Risk factors for hypothyroidism were predicted by binary logistic regression analysis.
The median urinary iodine level was 238.70 (197.00, 273.70) μg/L. Thyroid peroxidase antibody or thyroglobulin antibody positivity (11.87%) and Shypo (9.13%) were common in the elderly. The prevalence of hypothyroidism in the elderly increases with age. TAI was a risk factor for Shypo (OR, 1.94; 95% CI, 1.35, 2.80; < 0.01) and Ohypo (OR, 7.64; 95% CI, 3.40, 17.19; < 0.01) in elderly Chinese. There was an age-specific correlation between TAI and hypothyroidism in the elderly. However, a significant correlation was not identified between TAI and hypothyroidism in ≥80-year-old age group ( > 0.05).
Hypothyroidism, particularly Shypo, is common in the elderly from iodine-adequate areas in China. TAI serves as a risk factor for hypothyroidism in the elderly, with an age-specific correlation with hypothyroidism.
甲状腺自身免疫（TAI）疾病与不同年龄段老年人甲状腺功能减退症（简称 hypothyroidism）之间的相关性尚不清楚。本研究旨在调查碘充足地区≥65 岁老年人亚临床甲状腺功能减退症（简称 Shypo）和显性甲状腺功能减退症（简称 Ohypo）的流行病学特征，并揭示不同年龄段老年人 TAI 与 hypothyroidism 之间的相关性。
这是一项通过聚类抽样在我国两个碘充足地区进行的横断面研究，共纳入 2443 名≥65 岁的老年人。他们被分为 65-69 岁、70-79 岁和≥80 岁年龄组。所有研究对象均通过问卷调查、体格检查、实验室检测和甲状腺超声进行评估。比较三组老年人甲状腺疾病的流行病学特征。采用二项 logistic 回归分析预测 hypothyroidism 的危险因素。
中位数尿碘水平为 238.70（197.00，273.70）μg/L。甲状腺过氧化物酶抗体或甲状腺球蛋白抗体阳性率（11.87%）和 Shypo（9.13%）在老年人中较为常见。老年人 hypothyroidism 的患病率随年龄增长而增加。TAI 是 Shypo（OR，1.94；95%CI，1.35，2.80； < 0.01）和 Ohypo（OR，7.64；95%CI，3.40，17.19； < 0.01）的危险因素。在我国老年人中，TAI 与 hypothyroidism 之间存在年龄特异性相关性。然而，在≥80 岁年龄组中，TAI 与 hypothyroidism 之间未发现显著相关性（>0.05）。
在中国碘充足地区，老年人 hypothyroidism，尤其是 Shypo，较为常见。TAI 是老年人 hypothyroidism 的危险因素，与 hypothyroidism 之间存在年龄特异性相关性。
