Volume 24, Issue 105, September - October, 2020

Knowledge of hypothyroidism associated disorders and symptoms: A Saudi community-based study

Fayez Saud Alreshidi^1♦, Nahlah Fahad Alreshidi²

¹Department of Family and community medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia
²Department of internal medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia

^♦Corresponding author
Dr. Fayez Saud Alreshidi, Department of Family and community medicine, College of Medicine, University of Ha’il, Saudi Arabia

ABSTRACT

Background: Hypothyroidism is one of the missed diagnosed diseases with high prevalence rates in several geographical regions of Saudi Arabia. The current study aimed to assess the knowledge of hypothyroidism associated disorders and symptoms in a Saudi community-based study. Methodology: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study, included 900 Saudi volunteers recruited in Hail Region. The participants were randomly recruited in the current study irrespective of their age, sex, or other demographical characteristics. Results: Around 645/900(72%) of the participants were able to define hypothyroidism (117/170(69%) were males and 528/730(72%) were females). Around 475/900(53%) of the participants believed that Hypothyroidism is diagnosed by measuring TSH level in the blood (76/170(45%) were males and 399/730(55%) were females). Conclusion: Knowledge towards hypothyroidism symptoms and related disorders is relatively low amongst the Saudi community. Implementation of a sustainable hypothyroidism control program is deemed necessary in Northern Saudi Arabia.

Keywords: hypothyroidism, symptoms, thyroid hormone, Saudi Arabia

Medical Science, 2020, 24(105), 2870-2876

PDF