Study of Thyroid Function in Patients of Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, Who Were Suffering from Various Depressive Disorders

BACKGROUND Thyroid disorder patients are more prone to develop depressive symptoms. Depression is also associated with various thyroid abnormalities.1 Slight change in thyroid hormone levels show symptoms of depression, anxiety, increasing fatigability and psychomotor slowing. The depressive symptoms are more in elderly patients with rapid changes in thyroid hormone levels.1 In depressive disorder patients, 1 % to 4 % have primary (Overt Hypothyroidism) and 4 % to 40 % have subclinical Hypothyroidism.2 Overt thyroid dysfunction is usually mild. Thyroid abnormality is not a causal factor, it is mainly a risk factor for depression.2 We intended to study the thyroid function in various depressive disorder patients of Srikakulam district at Government medical college & General hospital Srikakulam. Srikakulam district has been chosen for this study for its backwardness in the residuary state of Andhra Pradesh. The objectives were to find out thyroid function levels like serum TSH, T3 and T4 in various depressive disorder patients and compare with the severity of clinical score, analyse and correlate with various depressive disorder patients of different age and sex groups, locality (both rural and urban areas). METHODS This observational study of thyroid function was conducted among 61 various depressive disorder patients of both males and females of 21 to 60 years age group who attended OPD and IPD of Psychiatry, Government medical college and general hospital, Srikakulam. We analysed and correlated serum TSH, T3 & T4 levels with various depressive disorders. RESULTS It was observed that subclinical hypothyroidism had a clinical severity of 16.39 %, overt hypothyroidism was 1.63 %, secondary hyperthyroidism was 1.63 % and euthyroidism was 80.33 % of various depressive disorders and was more common in females than in males and equal in distribution in both the rural and urban population. CONCLUSIONS Hypothyroidism was found to have been associated with various depressive disorders, cognitive function and psychosis among female patients and hyperthyroidism was associated with psychosis, anxiety, depression and cognitive impairment. KEY WORDS Depression, Hypothyroidism, Hyperthyroidism, Euthyroidism