The prevalence of thyroid disorders in COVID-19 patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Objectives: To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the prevalence of thyroid disorders in COVID-19 patients.

Data sources: Scopus, PubMed, ISI Web of Science, and Google Scholar databases were used in this review. We also consider the results of grey literature.

Study selections: Cohort, cross-sectional, and case-control studies were included.

Data extraction and synthesis: The required data were extracted by the first author of the article and reviewed by the second author. The Pooled prevalence of outcomes of interest was applied using the meta-prop method with a pooled estimate after Freeman-Tukey Double Arcsine Transformation to stabilize the variances.

Outcomes and measured: The different thyroid disorders were the main outcomes of this study. The diseases include non-thyroidal illness syndrome, thyrotoxicosis, hypothyroidism, isolated elevated free T4, and isolated low free T4.

Results: Eight articles were included in our meta-analysis(Total participants: 1654). The pooled prevalence of events hypothyroidism, isolated elevated FT4, isolated low FT4, NTIS, and thyrotoxicosis were estimated (Pooled P = 3%, 95% CI:2-5%, I2: 78%), (Pooled P = 2%, 95% CI: 0-4%, I2: 66%), (Pooled P = 1%, 95% CI: 0-1%, I2: 0%), (Pooled P = 26%, 95% CI: 10-42%, I2: 98%), and (Pooled P = 10%, 95% CI: 4-16%, I2: 89%), respectively.

Conclusion: Thyroid dysfunction is common in COVID-19 patients, with a high prevalence of non-thyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) and thyrotoxicosis. Our meta-analysis found a 26% prevalence of NTIS and a 10% prevalence of thyrotoxicosis.

Systematic review registration: PROSPERO CRD42022312601.

Keywords: COVID-19; Meta-analysis; Prevalence; Systematic review; Thyroid disorders.