the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

Background: diabetes mellitus (dm) is a major health problem globally. there are many studies, which show high prevalence of thyroid disorders in patients with type 2 dm. the aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in patients with type 2 dm. methods: 90 patients with type 2 dm aged between 40-70 years were studied. following a detailed history, all patients were evaluated for thyroid dysfunction by testing thyroid-stimulating hormone (tsh), free triiodothyronine (ft3), free thyroxine (ft4). the prevalence of thyroid dysfunction and its correlation with age, gender, hemoglobin a1c (hba1c), and duration of dm were studied. results: out of 90 patients studied, 16 were found to have thyroid dysfunction. the most common thyroid abnormality was subclinical hypothyroidism followed by hypothyroidism; furthermore, thyroid abnormality was seen mostly in patients aged more than 60 and in those with uncontrolled dm. conclusion: patients with type 2 dm should be screened for thyroid dysfunction, especially those with poor diabetic control.