ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Thyroid function and prevalent and incident metabolic syndrome in older adults: the health, ageing and body composition study

  1. Avantika C. Waring1,
  2. Nicolas Rodondi2,
  3. Stephanie Harrison3,
  4. Alka M. Kanaya1,
  5. Eleanor M. Simonsick4,5,
  6. Iva Miljkovic6,
  7. Suzanne Satterfield7,
  8. Anne B. Newman6,
  9. Douglas C. Bauer1,8,
  10. for the Health, Ageing, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study

Article first published online: 23 APR 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2011.04328.x

Issue

Clinical Endocrinology

Clinical Endocrinology

Volume 76, Issue 6, pages 911–918, June 2012

Additional Information

How to Cite

Waring, A. C., Rodondi, N., Harrison, S., Kanaya, A. M., Simonsick, E. M., Miljkovic, I., Satterfield, S., Newman, A. B., Bauer, D. C. and for the Health, Ageing, and Body Composition (Health ABC) Study (2012), Thyroid function and prevalent and incident metabolic syndrome in older adults: the health, ageing and body composition study. Clinical Endocrinology, 76: 911–918. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.2011.04328.x

Author Information

  1. 1

    Departments of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

  2. 2

    Department of General Internal Medicine, Inselspital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland

  3. 3

    San Francisco Coordinating Center, California Pacific Medical Center Research Institute, San Francisco, CA

  4. 4

    Clinical Research Branch, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

  5. 5

    Division of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

  6. 6

    Department of Epidemiology, Graduate School of Public Health, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA

  7. 7

    Department of Preventive Medicine, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN

  8. 8

    Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA

*Avantika C. Waring, MD, 400 Parnassus Ave, A-550, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA. Tel.: 001 215 514 4206; Fax: 415 353 2337; E-mail: avantika.waring@ucsf.edu

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 23 APR 2012
  2. Article first published online: 23 APR 2012
  3. Accepted manuscript online: 20 DEC 2011 01:05PM EST
  4. (Received 20 September 2011; returned for revision 12 October 2011; finally revised 30 November 2011; accepted 14 December 2011)

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Summary

Objective  Both subclinical hypothyroidism and the metabolic syndrome have been associated with increased risk of coronary heart disease events. It is unknown whether the prevalence and incidence of metabolic syndrome is higher as TSH levels increase, or in individuals with subclinical hypothyroidism. We sought to determine the association between thyroid function and the prevalence and incidence of the metabolic syndrome in a cohort of older adults.

Design  Data were analysed from the Health, Ageing and Body Composition Study, a prospective cohort of 3075 community-dwelling US adults.

Participants  Two thousand one hundred and nineteen participants with measured TSH and data on metabolic syndrome components were included in the analysis.

Measurements  TSH was measured by immunoassay. Metabolic syndrome was defined per revised ATP III criteria.

Results  At baseline, 684 participants met criteria for metabolic syndrome. At 6-year follow-up, incident metabolic syndrome developed in 239 individuals. In fully adjusted models, each unit increase in TSH was associated with a 3% increase in the odds of prevalent metabolic syndrome (OR, 1·03; 95% CI, 1·01–1·06; P = 0·02), and the association was stronger for TSH within the normal range (OR, 1·16; 95% CI, 1·03–1·30; P = 0·02). Subclinical hypothyroidism with a TSH > 10 mIU/l was significantly associated with increased odds of prevalent metabolic syndrome (OR, 2·3; 95% CI, 1·0–5·0; P = 0·04); the odds of incident MetS was similar (OR 2·2), but the confidence interval was wide (0·6–7·5).

Conclusions  Higher TSH levels and subclinical hypothyroidism with a TSH > 10 mIU/l are associated with increased odds of prevalent but not incident metabolic syndrome.

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