Thyroid disorders among older people in burkina faso

Introduction: Thyroid disorders are common in adults with significant clinical consequences. The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of biochemical hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism in older people in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. Material and Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of thyroid function tests results of people who presented at the biomedical laboratory of the "Hôpital Saint Camille de Ouagadougou (HOSCO)" from January 2016 to September 2017. Serum thyrotropin (TSH) and free tyroxine (FT4) concentrations were measured by chimiluminescence immunoassay (Roche Diagnostics, Switzerland). The normal ranges for TSH and FT4 were 0.25-5 μUI/ml and 9-20 ρmol/L respectively. Results: Older people aged 50 years and over represented 9.7% (251/2589) and 28.9% (747/2589) for men and women respectively. Among them, 85.7% (855/998) had a normal concentration of TSH (0.25 μUI/ml ≤TSH > 5 μUI/ml). Hyperthyroidism (TSH≤0.25 μUI/ml) was twice more frequent than hypothyroidism (TSH>5 μUI/ml): 9.8% vs. 4.5% (p value < 0.05). People aged 70 to 79 years presented the most abnormal concentrations of TSH: 15.2% of women had a concentration of TSH lower than 0.25 μUI/ml against 0% for males (p value 0.010) and 16.7% of men a concentration greater than 5 μUI/ml TSH against 5% in women (p value 0.043). Conclusion: These results confirm that the elderly are proned to thyroid disorders and women are more affected than men. The diagnostic of thyroid disorders must take into account the physiological changes of aging. The implementation of a health system adapted to older people is very necessary to ensure regular monitoring of their health.