Maternal thyroid disease in the Danish National Birth Cohort: prevalence and risk factors.

Abstract

OBJECTIVE:

Thyroid disorders are common in women of reproductive age, but the exact burden of disease before, during and after a pregnancy is not clear. We describe the prevalence of thyroid disease in women enrolled in the Danish National Birth Cohort (DNBC) and investigate some of its risk factors.

DESIGN:

Population-based study within the DNBC, which included 101,032 pregnancies (1997-2003).

METHODS:

We studied women enrolled in the DNBC who gave birth to a live-born child. Information on maternal thyroid disease (hyperthyroidism, hypothyroidism, benign goiter/nodules, thyroid cancer, and other) before, during and up to 5 years after the woman's first pregnancy in the cohort was obtained from self-report (telephone interview in median gestational week 17) and from nationwide registers on hospital diagnosis of thyroid disease/thyroid surgery (from 1977) and prescriptions of thyroid drugs (from 1995).

RESULTS:

Of the 77,445 women studied, 3018 (3.9%) were identified with an onset of thyroid disease before (2.0%), during (0.1%) or in the 5-year period after the pregnancy (1.8%). During the pregnancy, 153 (0.2%) women received antithyroid drugs and 365 (0.5%) received thyroid hormone for hypothyroidism (83 after previous hyperthyroidism, 42 after previous surgery for benign goiter/nodules or thyroid cancer). Significant risk factors for maternal thyroid disease were age, parity, origin, iodine intake, smoking, alcohol, and BMI.

CONCLUSIONS:

Around 4% of Danish pregnant women had either a history of thyroid disease or thyroid disease during pregnancy or were diagnosed with thyroid disease for the first-time in the years following a pregnancy. The spectrum of thyroid disease was influenced by demographic and environmental factors.

• Authors: Stine Linding Andersen, Jørn Olsen, Peter Laurberg
• Journal: European journal of endocrinology (Eur J Endocrinol) Vol. 174 Issue 2 Pg. 203-12 (Feb 2016) ISSN: 1479-683X [Electronic] England
• PMID: 26582484 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
• Copyright: © 2016 European Society of Endocrinology.

Topics

• Adult
• Cohort Studies
• Denmark (epidemiology)
• Female
• Humans
• Pregnancy
• Pregnancy Complications (epidemiology)
• Prevalence
• Registries
• Risk Factors
• Thyroid Diseases (epidemiology)