Subclinical hypothyroidism among infertile women at a tertiary hospital in South-West Nigeria

BACKGROUND: Overt thyroid dysfunction is an accepted cause of female infertility. Its milder form, subclinical hypothyroidism have also been implicated as a contributing factor to disturbed reproductive function. OBJECTIVE: To determine the contribution of subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH) to the burden of infertility. METHODOLOGY: This is a cross sectional, comparative study of One hundred and twenty women with primary or secondaryinfertility who presented for evaluation at gynaecological clinic and controls which are clients that came to access Family planning services. RESULTS: The prevalence of infertility among gynaecological patients seen in the clinic was 38.8% (192/495). The prevalence of SCH among the studied infertile women was 11.7% (7/60) compared with 3.3% (2/60) of the control group (p=0.222). The commonest type of infertility was secondary, 76.7% (46/60). All thestudied infertile women with SCH presented with secondary infertility. There was an observed statistically significant difference in the mean serum TSH (3.19±4.38mIU /L vs 1.60±1.22mIU /L) and FT3, FT4 (0.29±0.074ng/dl vs 0.95±0.16ng/dl and 0.33±0.071ng/dl vs 1.09±0.19ng/dl respectively) CONCLUSION: Subclinical hypothyroidism was found to be higher among infertile women but this finding was not statistically significant, therefore, the routine screening for SCH among infertile women might be unnecessary