Prevalence and Age of Hypertension in Patients with Overt Primary Hypothyroidism in a Tertiary Care Centre in India

Abstract

Introduction: Hypertension and hypothyroidism are common problems in the community. Although the hypothyroidism prevalence in people with hypertension has been reported, there are limited studies about hypertension prevalence in hypothyroid patients. This study aimed to analyze the prevalence and age of hypertension among patients with overt primary hypothyroidism in a tertiary care center in India.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among hypothyroid patients who consecutively attended a tertiary care hospital in Karnataka, India from 1 November 2020 to 30 September 2021. Purposive sampling method was used. Data was tabulated in MS Excel version 16 and analyzed via Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0.

Results: A total of 520 overt primary hypothyroid patients with 141 (27.1%) men and 379 (72.9%) women were included in the study. The mean age of the hypothyroid patients was 52.20 ± 16.414 years, with 58.27 ± 17.339 years of male and 49.95 ± 15.483 years of female (p < 0.05). The prevalence of hypertension among total hypothyroid patients was 225 (43.3%) (39-47.54, 95% CI) with 77 (54.61%) (46.29-62.93, 95% CI) in men and 148 (39.1%) (34.12-43.98, 95% CI) in women (p < 0.05). The mean age of patients with hypertension was 59.97 ± 13.218 years, with 65.39 ± 11.642 years of male and 57.15 ± 13.144 years of female (p < 0.05). 2

Conclusions: The prevalence of hypertension in hypothyroid patients was similar to prevalence in the general population and was higher in males than in females. The gender-wise distribution of patients with hypertension among hypothyroidism was more in females due to the high proportions of female in patients with hypothyroidism.