title: Subclinical hypothyroidism: psychiatric disorders and symptoms.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and symptoms in patients with subclinical hypothyroidism.
  
  
  METHODS
  Ninety-four outpatients with at least two elevated serum thyrotrophin levels (> 4 microU/ml) and normal FT4, and 43 euthyroid outpatients, both groups from HUCFF-UFRJ, were evaluated. Psychiatric diagnosis was based on the Structured Clinical Interview Diagnostic for the DSM-IV axis I (SCID-I/DSM-IV), the psychopathological symptoms on Hamilton anxiety and depression scales, and the Beck Inventory.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Our data showed an increased prevalence of psychiatric disorders in the subclinical hypothyroidism patients when compared to the euthyroid group (45.7% vs 25.6%; p = 0.025), mood disorders being the most frequent. The prevalence of depressive symptoms based on Beck's Scale among subclinical hypothyroidism patients was about 2.3 times higher than among euthyroid ones (45.6% vs 20.9%, p = 0.006). Anxiety symptoms were also more frequent among subclinical hypothyroidism patients (87.0% vs 60.5%, p < 0.001), mainly clinical anxiety (44.6% vs 23.3%; p = 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results showed a significant association of subclinical hypothyroidism with psychiatric disorders and an increased frequency of subsyndromic depression and anxiety symptoms in subclinical hypothyroidism in relation to the euthyroid group.
authors.affiliation: Graduate Program in Endocrinology, Hospital Universitário Clementino Fraga Filho, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil. mleite@openlink.com.br
authors.forename: Cloyra
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Almeida
authors.forename: Marco Antônio
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Brasil
authors.forename: Antônio José Leal
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Costa
authors.forename: Fabiola A A
authors.initials: FA
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.forename: Vaneska
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reuters
authors.forename: Patrícia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Márcia
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: Amanda M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Marques
authors.forename: Bianca A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Melo
authors.forename: Letícia B B de M
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Teixeira
authors.forename: Alexandre
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Buescu
authors.forename: Mário
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vaisman
mesh_terms: D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology*; D039721:Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007037:Hypothyroidism / Q000523:psychology*; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales