Materials and methods:

Cross-sectional study in 469 participants. Postmenopausal women over 40 years of age who sought outpatient care due to gynecological pathologies between July 2016 and June 2019 in three private university clinics in the Coffee Region, Colombia, were admitted. Women with a previous diagnosis of hypothyroidism or who refused to participate were excluded. Simple random sampling. Measured variables: sociodemographic, clinical, and surgical. Descriptive statistics were applied.

Results:

The mean age was 56.47 ± 7.14 years. The mean TSH values in the global population were 3.71 ± 1.94 μIU/mL, increasing with age. The prevalence of hypothyroidism in postmenopausal women was 48.61 % (n = 228/469) (95 % CI: 37.83-54.15) in the Coffee Region, being higher in obese women (54.41 %; 95 % CI, 43.29-49.41 %) and those over 60 (52.35 %; 95 % CI: 20.64-31.77). Anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies (TPoAb) were detected in 46.05% (n = 105/228) and thyroglobulin antibodies (TgAb) in 21.05% (n = 48/228) of hypothyroid women, showing an autoimmune phenomenon in 3.26% (n = 153/469) of the total population studied. Overweight, older age and antithyroid antibodies increase the prevalence of hypothyroidism (p < 0.05).

Conclusions:

48.61 % of postmenopausal women from the Coffee Region have hypothyroidism.

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