Time to Normalization of Thyroid function test and Associated factors among thyrotoxic patients on follow up at SPHMMC Endocrine clinic, Addis Ababa, 2024 G.C.

Abstract

Abstract Background: Thyrotoxicosis is typically brought on by excessively high tissue thyroid hormone levels. Untreated or only partially treated thyrotoxicosis can result different complications. The findings of this study will be important to address the above issue and to have plan to alleviate it thereby improving the quality of the treatment provided for our patients Objectives: The aim of the study was to assess Time to normalization of Thyroid function test and associated factors among thyrotoxic patients of follow up at Endocrine clinic of St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, 2023. Methods: A hospital-based retrospective cohort study was conducted on 181 patients with thyrotoxicosis who had attended adult Endocrine clinic at St. Paul’s Hospital Millennium Medical College from April 2023 to January of 2024. The data was collected using structured questionnaire. Data was entered using Epi data manager software version 7.1 and exported to STATA version 15 for analysis. Descriptive statistics of numeric variables was presented using mean with standard deviation or median with interquartile range, whereas categorical variables were expressed as a frequency and percentages. The association between the independent variable and time to normalization of TFT was analyzed using the Cox proportional hazard regression model. Log rank was used to identify the presence of significant difference in median time between different groups. The adjusted hazard ratio (AHR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI) was reported to show the strength of the association. Result: One hundred eleven (61%) thyrotoxicosis patients become euthyroid with the median time to euthyroidism of 7 months, IQR (3-13) months. Type of anti- thyroid drug used (AHR = 0.33; 95% CI 0.12–0.89), Adherence to medication (AHR = 0.24; 95% CI 0.13–0.42), Base line pulse rate (AHR = 0.97; 95% CI 0.95–0.99) and baseline free thyroxin (AHR = 0.99; 95% CI 0.984–0.995) were the independent determinants of delayed time to euthyroidism. Conclusion: More than half of the patients were euthyroid nonetheless, it took longer than anticipated. High baseline FT4, High baseline pulse rate, non- adherence to medication and use of PTU as a choice of anti-thyroid drug delayed time to euthyroidism. Patients with hyperthyroidism should get good attentive care until all thyroid function tests return to normal. Key word: Thyrotoxicosis, survival analysis, Ethiopia