Impaired Fertility Associated with Subclinical Hypothyroidism and Thyroid Autoimmunity: The Danish General Suburban Population Study
Table 1
Characteristics of women in The Danish General Suburban Population Study (GESUS).
All
Mild (subclinical) hypothyroidism
No
yes
-value
(%)
11254 (100)
8770
758
Age
56.3 (45.5–66.2)
55.4 (44.8–65.6)
55.6 (44.9–65.9)
0.43
Menopause, yes (%)
7129 (63.4)
5405 (61.6)
463 (61.1)
0.77
TSH, mU/L
1.8 (1.2–2.6)
1.7 (1.2–2.3)
4.6 (4.1–5.5)
<0.001
Total T3, nmol/L
1.6 (1.5–1.9)
1.7 (1.5–1.9)
1.6 (1.5–1.8)
0.38
Free T4, pmol/L
15 (14–17)
15 (14–17)
14 (13–15)
<0.001
TPOAb, U/mL
13 (20–32)
19 (12–27)
28 (15–699)
<0.001
Body mass index (BMI), kg/m²
25.3 (22.6–28.8)
25.2 (22.5–28.7)
25.5 (22.8–29.2)
0.06
Smoker, yes (%)
1899 (16.9)
1527 (17.5)
66 (8.7)
<0.001
Prevalent hypothyroidism, yes (%)
922 (9.4)
NA
NA
Prevalent hyperthyroidism, yes (%)
391 (4.2)
NA
NA
Diabetes mellitus, yes (%)
576 (5.1)
392 (4.5)
40 (5.3)
0.31
Antihypertensive medication, yes (%)
2457 (21.8)
1816 (20.7)
140 (18.5)
0.14
Cholesterol lowering medication, yes (%)
1510 (8.5)
1096 (12.5)
91 (12.0)
0.69
Contraception, yes (%)
953 (8.5)
772 (8.8)
66 (8.7)
0.93
Income below EUR 60,000 €
4744 (43.7)
3588 (42.4)
292 (40.1)
0.25
Unemployment, yes (%)
6284 (55.8)
3690 (42.1)
318 (42.0)
0.95
Education, no (%)
1713 (15.2)
1291 (14.7)
95 (12.5)
0.57
Age at 1st child born
25 (22–28)
25 (22–28)
25 (22–29)
0.02
No children born, (%)
1171 (10.5)
897 (10.3)
98 (13.0)
0.02
No pregnancies, (%)
952 (8.5)
733 (8.4)
77 (10.2)
0.09
Spontaneous abortion, yes (%)
2261 (21)
1747 (20.8)
149 (20.6)
0.87
For continuous variables: median (interquartile range). For SCH, value: Chi-square for categorical comparisons and ranksum or Kruskal-Wallis test for continuous comparisons.
