Assessing the Risk of Depression Among U.S. Adults with Resolved Thyroid Dysfunction: data analysis from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (2013 to 2018)

BackgroundDepression is a highly-prevalent disease among US adults. The positive association between thyroid dysfunction and depression has been identified in many studies, but whether the thyroid dysfunction history (have recovered) is still associated with depression, and whether this association is modified by gender is still unknown. This finding can be important for depression preventions. MethodsWe applied design-adjusted multivariable logistic regression to examine the adjusted association between thyroid dysfunction history and depression by using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2013 to 2018. ResultsOf 11975 respondents with complete responses included in this study, 8.4% (n = 1007) of the respondents have depression. The design-adjusted analysis shows no significant association between the thyroid dysfunction history and depression but shows gender as a significant effect modifier of the association. The association is 3.31(odds ratio, 95% CI: [1.38,7.93]) for males and 1.15 (odds ratio, 95% CI: [0.72, 1.84]) for females. ConclusionPeople who had thyroid dysfunction but recovered will still have a higher risk of getting depression, and it differs in genders. More suggestions and actions are needed for those who recovered from the thyroid dysfunction in order to prevent depression, especially for the males.