Introduction: The two common endocrinopathies, namely, diabetes mellitus and thyroid dysfunction may remain unrecognised for a long duration. Their co-existence is expected to enhance the burden and the severity of complications associated with diabetes that is compounded by delayed recognition and treatment. We undertook this study to assess the thyroid functions in patients with hyperglycaemia who did not have any clinical feature of thyroid dysfunction.

Methods: This cross–sectional observational study was conducted over a period of 12 months in a tertiary referral center of Uttarakhand after institutional ethical clearance. Thyroid functions and parameters of glycemic status were assessed in patients with diabetes (whether or not on treatment) after obtaining a written informed consent. All those included were categorized as euthyroid, subclinical or overtly hypothyroid and hyperthyroid.

Results: Thyroid dysfunction was observed in 24.5% of the 110 cases included for the study. Subclinical hypothyroidism was the most prevalent disorder (n=17; 15.4%), followed by overt hypothyroidism (n=7; 6.3%), and hyperthyroidism (n=3; 2.7%) in patients with hyperglycaemia. Significant association was not observed between the degrees of glycemic control and type of thyroid dysfunction (p 0.381) Higher BMI was significantly associated with thyroid dysfunction and more than half of our subjects with thyroid dysfunction had a positive family history of thyroid dysfunction.

Conclusions: Thyroid functions should be assessed in all diabetics given the high prevalence of thyroid disorders, especially in the overweight and a positive family history of thyroid dysfunction.