An enumeration of the prevalence of hypothyroidism during pregnancy in central India

Background/objectiveHypothyroidism can have adverse effects on pregnancy, such as miscarriage and congenital hypothyroidism. The routine assessment of thyroid function is not being done to date on all the pregnant women in India. Hence, the present study was designed to survey the antenatal thyroid status during the first trimester of pregnancy in a central Indian population.MethodsThe present study was performed on 1152 pregnant women with a mean age of 26.25 ± 4.39 years. All women were in the first trimester and were screened for their thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and Free T4 level.ResultsFollowing the guidelines for the TSH and Free T4 values in pregnancy, the prevalence of the hypothyroidism among the pregnant women in central India was 13.1%. Furthermore, the prevalence of clinical hypothyroid and subclinical hypothyroid was 2.25% and 10.85%, respectively.ConclusionThe present data on the prevalence of hypothyroidism in pregnant women strongly recommend the inclusion of routine thyroid screening.