Prevalence of hypothyroidism among patients undergoing thyroid function tests in primary healthcare centres in Dubai, UAE.

BACKGROUND

Hypothyroidism is a common disorder worldwide with a varied prevalence. Limited data are available on the prevalence rates of hypothyroidism in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and associated factors of hypothyroidism among adult patients visiting primary healthcare centres (PHC) in Dubai, UAE.

METHODS

A retrospective study was conducted using data from a registry maintained at the PHC of Dubai Health, from January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2020. The study included adults with thyroid function test (TFT) results and an International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 codes indicating hypothyroidism or subclinical hypothyroidism. Descriptive statistics were analysed for continuous and categorical variables, such as age, body mass index (BMI) and overweight or obese status. Chi-square and t-tests were employed to identify associations and differences between variables among individuals with and without hypothyroidism. The p-value ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant.

RESULTS

A total of 77,758 adult patients was analysed; among them, 49,995 (64.3%) were females and 27,762 (35.7%) were males; data was missing for 1 patient. The median age was 42 years, with a median BMI of 28.41. The overall prevalence of hypothyroidism was 2.1%, consisting of 91.4% overt hypothyroidism and 8.6% subclinical hypothyroidism. It was significantly higher in females (81.5%) than in males (18.5%). The highest prevalence (2.52%) was found in adults aged 35-44 years. Nearly half of the patients with hypothyroidism were obese (47%), followed by patients who were overweight (33.9%). Among patients with hypothyroidism, 0.73% had type 1 diabetes mellitus and no co-diagnoses of other autoimmune diseases; comorbidities included dyslipidemia (8%), hypertension (6.5%) and ischemic heart disease (1%).

CONCLUSION

The study revealed that hypothyroidism is common among patients visiting PHC in Dubai, with a prevalence rate similar to those reported in Europe and North America (0.3%-5.3%), but much lower than that in neighbouring Gulf countries, such as Bahrain (44%), Saudi Arabia (29%) and Jordan (26%). Moreover, the highest prevalence of hypothyroidism is found among young and middle-aged individuals, particularly women.