Prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among patients with hypothyroidism

CONTEXT: The association between depression and thyroid function is well known. Both conditions express many similar symptoms, thus making the diagnosis and treatment difficult. AIMS: To find the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms among patients with hypothyroid. SETTINGS AND DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. MATERIALS AND METHODOLOGY: A total of 100 patients diagnosed as hypothyroidism were evaluated using Hamilton depression rating scale (HDRS) and Hamilton scale for anxiety (HAM-A). STATISTICAL ANALYSIS USED: The data were analyzed using the SPSS for Windows version 17.0 software. The quantitative data were expressed in number and percentage. The results obtained were compared using the Chi-square test. RESULTS: Females constituted 70% of the sample. A total of 60% reported some degree of depression based on HDRS (males – 56.63% and females – 64.29%) whereas about 63% out of the total patients screened showed some degree of anxiety (males –56.66% and females – 65.72%) based on HAM-A. The most common depressive symptom among the males was depressed mood (73.33%) and among females was gastrointestinal somatic symptoms (68.54%). The most common anxiety symptom among the males was depressed mood (70.0%) and among females was anxious mood (92.85%). CONCLUSIONS: Psychiatric symptoms/disorders are common in patients with thyroid dysfunction.