Polish Journal of Public Health

Original Article, Pol J Public Health 2021;131: 35-40

Jolanta Herda¹, Piotr Okoński¹, Agnieszka Parfin¹,
Krystian Wdowiak², Marek Kos¹

1 Chair and Department of Public Health, Medical University of Lublin, Poland
2 Students Scientific Association at Chair and Department of Public Health, Medical University of Lublin, Poland

10.2478/pjph-2021-0007

© 2021 Medical University of Lublin. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonComercial-No Derivs licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/)

Abstract

Introduction. Numerous authors have undertaken research on the coexistence of mental health disorders and thyroid disease. They have not been able to clearly demonstrate which illness came first.
Aim. The main purpose of this work is to asses the coexistence of thyroid disease with mental health conditions and disorders in behaviour. This work is based on a retrospective study and has shown frequent coexistence of thyroid disease with mental health or behaviour disorders.
Material and methods. The research method was a retrospective study carried out on the basis of medical records of patients of primary care clinics in the city of Lublin. The criterion for qualifying patients for the study was having a diagnosis, according to ICD 10, from at least one of the following groups: thyroid diseases E03-E07, mental health conditions F00-F 99 and behavioral disorders R44-R46.
Results. In total, 243 patients were qualified for the study. In this group 193 people are women and the remaining 50 are men. Among patients with isolated diseases, 28% of them have only diagnosed thyroid disease; every third patient (30%) has diagnosed mental health illness or behavioural disorders. The Fisher test showed a relationship between thyroid diseases and mental health conditions including behavioural disorders (p=0.0000). A group of people with hypothyroidism in the course of Hashimoto’s disease has been identified. The results of the prevalence of the disease were observed dividing by gender and age. Hashimoto’s disease occurs in the group of 15% women and 4% men. Pearson’s Chi2 test showed a relationship between the incidence of Hashimoto’s disease and gender (p=0.037). The quota coefficient showed that this relationship is weak (0.13). The disease is more common in women.
Conclusions. There is a close relationship between the incidence of thyroid disease and mental health illness, including behavioural disorders. Patients with co-morbidity are significantly more likely to present mental illnesses and disorders. The dominance of mental illnesses and disorders is three times higher compared to thyroid diseases.

Keywords: thyroid diseases, mental disorders, behavioural disorders, Hashimoto disease.