Table 1. Characteristics of study population.
| Author(s), Year Published & Study Type | Country | Sample (SCH/EU) | Age (yr) (SCH/EU); Female % | TSH cutoff value (mIU/l) | TSH (mIU/l) at baseline (SCH/EU) | CIMT (mm) at baseline: SCH/EU | Exclusion criteria used | SCH and EU Groups matched for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monzani et al. 200418); Clinical trial | Italy | 45/32 | 37 ± 11/35 ± 10 | > 3.6 | 6.03 ± 8.4/1.19 ± 1.6 | 0.76 ± 0.14/0.63 ± 0.07 | Thyroid Rx., subjects > 55 yr, obese (BMI > 30 kg/m2), smoking, HTN, DM, CVD, CRF, CLD. | sex, age, BMI |
| Duman et al. 200723); Clinical trial | Turkey | 20/20 | 37.0 ± 12.6/37.0 ± 12.6 | > 4.2 | 10.9 ± 5.8/2.3 ± 0.8 | 0.65 ± 0.99/0.54 ± 0.10 | Taking any medication, Obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2), DM, HTN, CHD, CLD, CRF, FH, PVD, age < 18 years or > 60 years, smoking, menopause, pregnancy. | sex, age. |
| Adrees et al. 200920); Clinical trial | Ireland | 56/56 | 50 ± 9/NR | NR | 13.2 ± 4.5/1.9 ± 1.0 | 0.82 ± 0.2/NR | Hx. of IHD, TIA, HTN, DM, or impaired fasting glycaemia, smoking, coeliac disease, pernicious ane-mia. | age, BMI. |
| Kim et al. 200917); Clinical trial | Korea | 36/32 | 36.0 ± 6.2/36.1 ± 5.4 | > 5.5 | 11.48 ± 4.70/1.60 ± 0.60 | 0.67 ± 0.11/0.57 ± 0.08 | Hx. of thyroid disease or Rx., thyroidectomy, or radioiodine therapy, DM, HTN, serum Creatinine > 1.3 mg/dL, smoking, statin use, previous preg-nancy in the last 1 year, postmenopausal state. | gender, age, BMI |
| Kebapcilar et al. 201015); Clinical trial | Turkey | 38/19 | 49.47 ± 10.04/49.95 ± 8.12 | > 5.0 | 11.26 ± 7.54/1.48 ± 1.12 | 0.64 ± 0.13/0.57 ± 0.08 | DM, CHD, CLD, CRF, other systemic diseases, morbid obesity, FH, cancer. MEDS: anti-hyperlipid-emics, antihypertensives, acetylsalicylic acid, antihis-tamines, corticosteroids, HRT, multivitamins, or excessive alcohol. | age, smoking habit, waist circumference, BMI. |
| Cabral et al. 201130); Clinical trial | Brazil | 32/NR | 47.59 ± 8.4/43.36 ± 9.8 | > 4.0 | 6.79 ± 2.0/6.77 ± 1.9 | 0.66 ± 0.11/NR | Hx. of previous thyroid disease, TSH > 12 mIU/ml, obesity, HTN, DM, CAD, CLD, CRF, alcohol use. MEDS*: amiodarone, corticosteroids, estrogens, lith-ium, anti-lipids, diuretics, anti-diabetics, antihyper-tensive, and drugs to treat obesity. | NR |
| Koroglu et al. 201224); Clinical trial | Turkey | 30/NR | 44.0 ± 11.6/47.9 ± 14.6 | NR | 7.5 ± 1.5/6.8 ± 1.4 | NR/NR | CAD, CLD, CRF, chronic inflammatory disease, hypophyseal insufficiency, Thyroid Rx. in recent 3 months, use of statins, use of HRT. | NR |
| Akkoca et al. 201421); Clinical trial | Turkey | 20/20 | 34.47 ± 1.43/35.25 ± 2.21 | NR | 8.97 ± 1.1/3.50 ± 0.43 | 0.74 ± 0.63/0.39 ± 0.72 | Hx. of thyroid Rx., HTN, DM, CAD, CLD, CRF, cancer, FH, use of lipid lowering drugs, BMI < 20 kg/m2 or > 30 kg/m2, smoking. | Age, height, weight, BMI |
| Unsal et al. 201425); Clinical trial | Turkey | 56/46 | 41.32 ± 14.48/36.07 ± 10.58 | > 4.2 | 6.77 ± 2.902/1.65 ± 0.913 | 0.533 ± 0.112/0.5 ± 0.086 | Hx. of thyroid disease or Rx, thyroidectomy, obesity, DM, HTN, CVD, CLD, CRF, radioiodine therapy, statin use, alcohol use. | NR |
| Yazici et al. 201428); Clinical trial | Turkey | 43/30 | 35.2 ± 10.7/34.5 ± 8.2 | > 4 | 6.0 ± 1.4/2.0 ± 0.3 | 0.51 ± 0.09/0.48 ± 0.04 | DM, HTN, heart failure, IHD, valvular disease, CLD, CRF, rheumatological disease, malignancy. MEDS: antihypertensives, antihyperlipidemics, ace-tylsalicylic acid, HRT. | Sex, age, SBP, DBP, BMI |
| Cerbone et al. 201626); Clinical trial | Italy | 39/39 | 9.18 ± 3.56/9.45 ± 3.62; | > 4.5 | 6.30 ± 1.01/2.92 ± 0.68 | 0.44 ± 0.08/0.44 ± 0.06 | Chronic diseases, chromosomal and genetic syn-dromes, previous or current thyroid diseases, use of drugs that may interfere with thyroid function, pre-vious irradiation in the neck region, detection of SCH at neonatal screening, familial history of genetic lipid disorders or early CVD | age, height, BMI, SBP, DBP, |
| Niknam et al. 201627); Clinical trial | Iran | 25/25 | 35.9 ± 7.6/37.5 ± 7.3 | 7.19 ± 1.29/2.4 ± 0.55 | 0.56 ± 0.09/0.58 ± 0.08 | Rx. of hypothyroidism, CVD, CRF, CLD, malig-nancies, or CVA, HTN, DM, obesity (BMI > 30 kg/m2), smoking, pregnancy, lactating women. | sex, age. |
SCH = Subclinical Hypothyroidism, NR = Not reported, Hx = History of, Rx = Treatment of, HTN = Hypertension, DM = Diabetes Mellitus, ATH Disease = atherosclerotic disease (e.g. CAD, PAD etc.), CAD = Coronary Artery Disease, IHD = Ischemic Heart Disease, CHD = Coronary Heart Disease, CHF = Congestive Heart Failure, CLD = Chronic Liver Disease, CRF = Chronic Renal Failure, CARS = Coronary Artery Revascularization Surgery, TC = Total cholesterol, HCL = Hypercholesterolemia, CAH = congenital adrenal hyperplasia, HPRL = hyperprolactinemia, WC = Waist Circumference, FH = Familial Hypercholesterolemia, CD = Cushing's disease, TIA = Transient Ischemic Attacks, HRT = Hormone Replacement Therapy, MNG = Multinodular Goiter, DBP = Diastolic Blood Pressure, SBP = Systolic Blood pressure. MEDS* use of any drugs that alter Thyroid function test.