Lipid Profile Abnormalities in Newly Diagnosed Primary Hypothyroidism in a Tertiary Care Centre of Western Nepal: A Descriptive Cross-sectional Study

Introduction: Thyroid hormones have a major influence on synthesis, mobilization and metabolism of lipids. Hypothyroidism accounts for a notable cause of secondary dyslipidemia. This can increase the risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. This study was performed to find out the prevalence of lipid profile abnormalities in newly diagnosed primary hypothyroid states. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted among 71 patients in the context of newly diagnosed primary hypothyroidism patients visiting outpatient department of internal medicine from 9th December 2018 to 30th June 2020 after taking ethical clearance from Institutional Review Committee. Case screening for lipid profile changes was performed at the time of diagnosis of primary hypothyroidism. A convenience sampling method was used. Data entry and descriptive analysis were done in Statistical Package for the Social Sciences version 16.0. Point estimate at 95% Confidence Interval was calculated along with frequency and proportion for binary data. Results: In this study including 71 cases of newly diagnosed primary hypothyroidism, 49 (69.0%) (95% Confidence Interval= 58.24-79.76) had abnormal lipid profiles. Among them, 5 (38.5%) out of 13 (18.3%) cases of subclinical hypothyroidism and 44 (75.9%) out of 58 (81.7%) cases of overt hypothyroidism had abnormal lipid profiles. Conclusions: The prevalence of abnormal lipid profile parameters was similar to the study done in various studies in similar settings except for high-density lipid which showed both similarity and dissimilarity with other studies. Our study suggested that all newly diagnosed cases of primary hypothyroidism are to be investigated for dyslipidemia thus ensuring early treatment and prevention of complications.