Consumption of thyroid medications as an indicator of increase of thyroid morbidity in Latvia from 2011 to 2014

Ieva Kalere, Ieva Strele, Martiņš Miglinieks, Ilze Repša, Santa Pildava, Mihails Romanovs, Valdis Pirags, Ilze Konrade

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)
23 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The most common autoimmune disorders with clinically opposite manifestations are hypothyroidism in Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hyperthyroidism in Graves' disease. The healthcare burden of thyroid disease is substantial, resulting in substantial health care costs. The aim of the present analysis is to assess the use of thyroid medications in Latvia from 2011 to 2014 by age and gender. Our study used reimbursed medication prescriptions data, collected by the National Health Service of Latvia. The main indicator was the number of prevalent users of thyroid medications each year from 2011 to 2014, stratified by age and gender. From 2011 to 2014, the number of thyroxine users per 100 000 revealed a statistically significant increase in all age and gender groups, except in 0- to 9-year-old girls. The number of Thiamazole users among men increased in the age group from 40 to 89 years and in women age groups above 49 years. Increasing sales of both thyroid hormones and antithyroid medications are also observed in Estonia and Lithuania, indicating that growing thyroid morbidity is an issue in the whole region. The substantial increase in number of patients highlights the necessity for national guidelines on the use of thyroid function tests and standards of medical care.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)407-410
JournalProceedings of the Latvian Academy of Sciences, Section B: Natural, Exact, and Applied Sciences
Volume73
Issue number4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Aug 2019

Keywords*

  • Hyperthyroidism
  • hypothyroidism
  • Levothyroxine
  • prescribing data
  • Thiamazole

Field of Science*

  • 3.2 Clinical medicine
  • 3.3 Health sciences

Publication Type*

  • 1.1. Scientific article indexed in Web of Science and/or Scopus database

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