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. 2012 Jun;76(6):911-8.
doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2011.04328.x.

Thyroid function and prevalent and incident metabolic syndrome in older adults: the Health, Ageing and Body Composition Study

Avantika C Waring  1 , Nicolas Rodondi, Stephanie Harrison, Alka M Kanaya, Eleanor M Simonsick, Iva Miljkovic, Suzanne Satterfield, Anne B Newman, Douglas C Bauer; Health, Ageing, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study
Affiliations

Thyroid function and prevalent and incident metabolic syndrome in older adults: the Health, Ageing and Body Composition Study

Avantika C Waring et al. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf). 2012 Jun.

Abstract

Objective: Both subclinical hypothyroidism and the metabolic syndrome have been associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease events. It is unknown whether the prevalence and incidence of metabolic syndrome is higher as TSH levels increase, or in individuals with subclinical hypothyroidism. We sought to determine the association between thyroid function and the prevalence and incidence of the metabolic syndrome in a cohort of older adults.

Design: Data were analysed from the Health, Ageing and Body Composition Study, a prospective cohort of 3075 community-dwelling US adults.

Participants: Two thousand one hundred and nineteen participants with measured TSH and data on metabolic syndrome components were included in the analysis.

Measurements: TSH was measured by immunoassay. Metabolic syndrome was defined per revised ATP III criteria.

Results: At baseline, 684 participants met criteria for metabolic syndrome. At 6-year follow-up, incident metabolic syndrome developed in 239 individuals. In fully adjusted models, each unit increase in TSH was associated with a 3% increase in the odds of prevalent metabolic syndrome (OR, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01-1.06; P = 0.02), and the association was stronger for TSH within the normal range (OR, 1.16; 95% CI, 1.03-1.30; P = 0.02). Subclinical hypothyroidism with a TSH > 10 mIU/l was significantly associated with increased odds of prevalent metabolic syndrome (OR, 2.3; 95% CI, 1.0-5.0; P = 0.04); the odds of incident MetS was similar (OR 2.2), but the confidence interval was wide (0.6-7.5).

Conclusions: Higher TSH levels and subclinical hypothyroidism with a TSH > 10 mIU/l are associated with increased odds of prevalent but not incident metabolic syndrome.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of Interest and Financial Disclosures: The authors have nothing to declare.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Fitted prevalence of metabolic syndrome as a function of TSH levels, with 95% confidence interval, holding age, sex, race, BMI, smoking status, and HOMA-IR constant at their sample means
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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