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Autoimmune thyroid disease rates not linked to diabetes duration, age
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Dutch patients with type 1 diabetes are more likely to develop autoimmune thyroid disease than the general population; however, age and diabetes duration are not associated with incidence rates, according to research in the Journal of Diabetes and its Complications.
Christa Nederstigt, MD, MSc, of Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands, and colleagues analyzed data from 1,304 adults with type 1 diabetes who visited an outpatient clinic at Leiden University Medical Center between 1995 and 2010 (49% women; average diabetes duration, 15.3 years; mean age at diabetes onset, 18.7 years). Participants underwent thyroid function tests as part of a routine screening protocol every 2 years; data included free thyroxine, thyroid-stimulating hormone and antithyroid peroxidase antibody levels. Researchers calculated the prevalence of autoimmune thyroid disease at first screening and estimated prevalence and incidence rates during a mean follow-up of 10.5 years.
Within the cohort, 30 participants had non-autoimmune thyroid disease before the start of follow-up; 59 participants had known autoimmune thyroid disease at the start of follow-up. At first thyroid screening, 104 patients (10.3%) were diagnosed with hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism; 128 participants were diagnosed with autoimmune thyroid disease (101 cases of hypothyroidism) in subsequent screenings. The incidence rate for autoimmune thyroid disease was 11.2 per 1,000 person-years (95% CI, 9.5-13.4); 8.9 per 1,000 person-years for hypothyroidism (95% CI, 7.3-10.8) and 2.4 per 1,000 person-years for hyperthyroidism (95% CI, 1.6-3.5).
Age-stratified incidence of autoimmune thyroid disease was similar across all ages and categories of diabetes duration in both men and women, according to researchers, although the incidence of autoimmune thyroid disease was two times higher in women.
“Increasing prevalence of [autoimmune thyroid disease] is therefore only reflecting an increased time at risk for [autoimmune thyroid disease],” the researchers wrote. – by Regina Schaffer
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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