Psychiatric status and the disorders of thyroid function. I. Prevalence of goitre in a group of psychiatric patients. I. The prevalence of goitre in a group of psychiatric patients.

All (478) indigenous Zambian patients who were in hospital on a particular day in January 1976 were examined by the authors for goitre. 34.4 per cent of all adult female patients and 23.2 per cent of all adult male patients had goitre. However, 57.6 per cent of all female patients with effective illness and 77.0 per cent of all male patients with paranoid psychosis were found to have goitre. The association between affective illness and paranoid psychosis on the one hand and goitre on the other was found to be statistically significnat at the 0.1 per cent level. It is suggested that further work should be done to find out what proportion of patients with depression or pananoia have sub-clinical or borderline hypothyroidism.