Prevalence of Thyroid Disorders in Patients with Infertility
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61581/mjsp.v6i01.386Keywords:
Primary Infertility, Thyroid dysfunction, Thyroid stimulating harmone, Thyroixin, HypothyroidismAbstract
Objective: To compare thyroid hormone concentrations and the frequency of thyroid dysfunction between women with primary infertility and fertile controls.
Methodology: In this case-control study, conducted at the Outpatient Department of Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Combined Military Hospital Multan from 28 April 2024 to 27 October 2024, 91 women aged 20–35 years were enrolled and 79 with complete, verifiable records were analysed: 39 women with primary infertility (Group I) and 40 fertile controls (Group II). Serum free triiodothyronine (fT3), free thyroxine (fT4) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) were measured by chemiluminescent microparticle immunoassay. The Shapiro-Wilk test checked data distribution, the Mann-Whitney U test compared groups, Spearman correlation examined associations and the chi-square test compared categorical frequencies, using SPSS 20.0 with p<0.05 as significant.
Results: Mean age, fT3, fT4 and TSH did not differ significantly between groups (p=0.080, 0.294, 0.383 and 0.287). Euthyroid status was present in 53.8% of Group I versus 77.5% of Group II (p=0.064). Hyperthyroidism was the most frequent disorder in Group I (28.2%). Within Group I, fT3 correlated strongly with fT4 (rho=0.989, p<0.001), and TSH correlated inversely with fT3 (rho=?0.689) and fT4 (rho=?0.690, both p<0.001); age showed no significant relationship with any hormone.
Conclusion: Thyroid hormone concentrations were broadly similar between infertile and fertile women, although thyroid dysfunction, mainly hyperthyroidism, was numerically more common in the infertile group. Thyroid function testing remains a reasonable and inexpensive part of the infertility work-up, though it should not replace evaluation of other contributing causes.
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