Table 3.
Sociodemographic characteristics and health care access of NHANES participants with hypothyroidism on thyroid hormone, stratified by treatment status
| Variables | Adequate Treatment (n = 412) | Undertreated (n = 56) | P-value | Overtreated (n = 68) | P-value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gender | (%) | (%) | 0.84 | (%) | 0.82 |
| Men | 18.5 | 17.2 | 16.4 | ||
| Women | 81.5 | 82.8 | 83.6 | ||
| Age group | 0.19 | 0.37 | |||
| 20–44 | 6.2 | 15.4 | 3.1 | ||
| 45–69 | 59.7 | 58.5 | 70.3 | ||
| 70 years and over | 34.0 | 26.1 | 26.6 | ||
| Race/ethnicity | 0.015 | 0.63 | |||
| Non-Hispanic white | 88.9 | 81.3 | 86.2 | ||
| Hispanic | 3.9 | 15.2 | 6.1 | ||
| Non-Hispanic black | 2.7 | 3.6 | 4.0 | ||
| Other | 4.5 | 0.0 | 3.7 | ||
| Education | 0.83 | 0.74 | |||
| Did not complete HS | 11.7 | 12.7 | 14.9 | ||
| Completed HS | 56.2 | 49.9 | 49.4 | ||
| Completed college | 32.1 | 37.5 | 35.7 | ||
| Household income ($) | 0.27 | 0.99 | |||
| 0–45 000 | 36.9 | 46.8 | 34.4 | ||
| 45 000–10 0000 | 29.4 | 22.1 | 29.6 | ||
| Above 100 000 | 25.5 | 28.7 | 28.8 | ||
| Don’t know | 8.1 | 2.5 | 7.2 | ||
| Access to routine care | 0.45 | 0.26 | |||
| No | 0.4 | 0.9 | 4.2 | ||
| Yes | 99.6 | 99.1 | 95.8 |
Undertreated hypothyroidism was defined as TSH > 5.6mIU/L. Overtreated hypothyroidism was defined as TSH < 0.3mIU/L. Adequate treatment was defined as a TSH between 0.3 and 5.6 mIU/L. P-values refer to the comparisons between those with adequate treatment of hypothyroidism and those with undertreated or overtreated hypothyroidism.
Abbreviations: HS, high school; NHANES, National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; TSH, thyroid-stimulating hormone.