title: Euthyroid sick syndrome in psychiatric inpatients.
abstract: Numerous disorders are associated with euthyroid sick syndrome (ESS). This retrospective study examines the incidence and circumstances of ESS among 3188 psychiatric inpatients. There were 324 patients (10.2%) who met strictly defined criteria for ESS. Of these, 95 were hyperthyroxinemic (HT), 6 were hypothyroxinemic, 179 had mildly elevated thyroid-stimulating hormone (HTSH), and 47 had suppressed TSH. All were classified by DSM-III-R discharge diagnoses, encompassing five categories. chi 2 tests of significance of the 95 HT and 179 HTSH subjects revealed the following: 1) no relationship with age or gender; 2) the frequencies of HT and HTSH differed significantly (p < .05 and p < .01, respectively) across the five psychiatric categories; 3) HT frequency was highest in mood disorders (HT in mood versus others p < .02); and 4) HTSH frequency was highest in substance abuse (HTSH in substance abuse versus others p < .02). In conclusion, ESS is common in psychiatric inpatients, especially HT and HTSH; pathophysiologic mechanisms may vary according to psychiatric diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Texas Medical School, Houston, USA.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Nader
authors.forename: M D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Warner
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Doyle
authors.forename: C A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Peabody
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005067:Euthyroid Sick Syndromes / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007297:Inpatients; D008297:Male; D011618:Psychotic Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013960:Thyroid Function Tests; D013972:Thyrotropin / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D013972:Thyrotropin