Epidemiology

The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) in the US suggests that the prevalence of overt primary hypothyroidism and subclinical hypothyroidism is 0.3% and 4.3%, respectively, using data from 1988-1994.[5] More recent NHANES data from 2009-2012 estimated the prevalence of overt hypothyroidism to be 2.1% using laboratory data.[6]​ The prevalence of overt and subclinical hypothyroidism is higher in white people (5.1%) than in black people (1.7%), or Hispanic people (4.2%).[5] The prevalence of hypothyroidism is higher in women and increases with age.[7]​ It ranges from 4% in women ages 18-24 years, to 21% in women older than 74 years, and 3% to 16% in men of the same age groups.[8] In Europe, the prevalence of overt hypothyroidism in the general population ranges between 0.2% and 5.3%.[7] The incidence of primary hypothyroidism in the UK is estimated to be 0.41% per year in women and 0.06% per year in men.[9]

Differences in iodine status affect the prevalence of hypothyroidism as both severe iodine deficiency and iodine excess may cause hypothyroidism.[1]​​ Global efforts to universally iodize salt have diminished the magnitude of this problem.[10][11]​​​​​​ However, iodine intake is still inadequate in some countries and in high-risk individuals, such as pregnant women.[12][13][14] IGN: global scorecard of iodine nutrition 2023 Opens in new window​​ Autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto disease), the most common cause of primary hypothyroidism in iodine-sufficient areas, has been estimated to have a global prevalence of 0.075%, affect women up to nine times as often as men, and have a peak incidence between the ages of 30 and 50 years.[15][16]

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