Prevalence of anxiety and depression among patients with thyroid disorder

Background Thyroid dysfunctions have been recognized to cause significant manifestations in mental health. They may lead to disturbances in emotions and cognition. Both increase and decrease in thyroid function can cause mood abnormalities. Symptoms of anxiety and depression are more common, as well as increased scores on depression and anxiety self-rating scales. Indian studies are scarce exploring the association of anxiety and depression and its severity with hypo or hyperthyroid status of the patients. Hence this study was carried out to find the prevalence of anxiety and depression among patients with thyroid abnormalities and its association with hypo or hyperthyroid status. Methods The present is a hospital based cross-sectional study carried out in the Endocrinology outpatient unit of a tertiary care hospital in south India between March 2014 and March 2015. A total of 132 patients underwent endocrine and mental state evaluation by using standard tools. Results The mean (SD) age of the population was 40 (12) year with majority of the patients were from the age group of 35-49 year (38%). There was preponderance of females (60%). The overall prevalence was higher among the patients with thyroid disorder as compared to the general population with around half of the patients having at least one psychiatric illness. The most common illnesses were major depressive disorder/dysthymia and generalized anxiety disorder present in 20% and 13% of the patients respectively. The number of patients developing major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder was similar between hypothyroid and hyperthyroid category (p>0.05). Anti TPO positivity didn’t have any statistically significant association with presence of anxiety and depressive disorder. Conclusion The overall prevalence was higher among the patients with thyroid disorder as compared to the general population with around half of the patients having at least one psychiatric illness. Hyper or hypo thyroid status do not change the prevalence of major depressive disorder and generalized anxiety disorder.