1Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Mangalore, India
2MBBS Student, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Mangalore, India
*Corresponding Author: Dr. Nitin Joseph Associate Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Mangalore, India Ph: 00919448732896, Fax No. 918242428183 E-mail: drnitinjoseph@gmail.com
Online published on 5 May, 2018.
Thyroid disorders feature among the most frequent endocrine disorders in India. There is rarity of studies with respect to reproductive health problems faced by women with thyroid disorders.
This study was done to assess reproductive health problems among female students with thyroid disorders.
Cross sectional study done at a private medical, dental and nursing college.
Data was collected among female students using a self-administered questionnaire. Height and weight of all participants was recorded using standard procedures.
Chi square test
Mean age of the 466 participants was 20.4+1.5 years. As many as 25(5.4%) had thyroid disorders and all these were cases of hypothyroidism. Difficulty in maintaining ideal body weight (P=0.006) and trouble in controlling excess weight (P<0.001) in the past 6 months was significantly more among hypothyroid participants. Similarly these cases reported frequent late menstrual periods (P=0.027) and irregular menstrual periods (P=0.001) over the past 6 months. Overweight was significantly more among hypothyroid participants compared to others (P=0.045).
Reproductive health problems were associated with hypothyroidism among participants in this settings. Suitable remedial measures added with awareness programs on these aspects needs to be conducted among students with hypothyroidism.
Hypothyroidism, Reproductive health problems, Overweight, University students, Females
