Title: Incidence of deranged thyroid levels in women aged 25 years and above with lower back pain
Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) disorder amounts to 57% of disability overall overburdening individuals, healthcare and society. Though various aetiologies and literatures are available but treating LBP has met with only patchy success. This has led to calls for a more in-depth study to understand the origin and progression of the condition in early stage i.e., young age for better target intervention. In adolescent, overall prevalence of LBP is higher in females than males. As we know deranged levels of thyroid leads to body changes causing tiredness, fatigue, reducing quality of life due to generalized pain referable to muscles or joints that often resolves or improves on thyroid medication which may be one of the aetiology for LBP. Little research has been done on the relationship between LBP and deranged thyroid level i.e., hypothyroidism.
Thus, the objective of this study is to find the incidence of deranged thyroid levels using TSH screening in women (25 years and above) with LBP.
Methods: A prospective cohort was conducted after ethical approval of the esteemed institution from 2021 to 2022. After taking consent and explaining objective of study, we randomly screened 852 females of age 25 years, of which 426 females had complains of LBP of more than 3 weeks.
Results: Our study found, out of 852 Female subjects screened, 426 had LBP of which 66.9% had high TSH levels. There was no substantial association between age and deranged thyroid (high TSH). There was statistical correlation between high TSH and LBP with p value of 0.00001 and strong negative correlation was seen.
Conclusion: Low back pain in females of age 25 years and above may be a consequence of deranged thyroid levels i.e. elevated TSH levels (hypothyroidism). Therefore this will help in diagnosing, treating and subsequently preventing LBP by screening TSH Levels.
Department of Orthopaedics, D. Y. Patil School of Medicine & Hospital