Abstract
Thyroid function abnormalities have been associated with psychiatric illness. Even though it is a common practice to assess thyroid function in geropsychiatric patients, a literature search for the past 10 years did not reveal any published studies of assessments of thyroid function abnormalities in acute geropsychiatric populations. A retrospective chart review of 197 acute geropsychiatric inpatients and 14 comparison group patients showed that 40 geropsychiatric patients and 2 comparison group patients had abnormal thyroid function tests (TFTs). The most common abnormality was elevated triiodothyronine uptake (T3U), which was noted in 19 female and 13 male geropsychiatric patients. The difference in the prevalence of TFT abnormalities between the geropsychiatric patients and the comparison group subjects was not statistically significant. Both T3U and free thyroxine index (FTI) were significantly higher in the female geropsychiatric patients than in the female comparison group patients. The abnormalities in T3U and FTI in this study group may be related to an increased prevalence of unidentified systemic illness or to the presence of chronically poor nutrition.
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