A 2016 clinical practice pattern in the management of primary hypothyroidism among doctors from different clinical specialties in New Delhi

BACKGROUND This study aimed to document practices in managing hypothyroidism among doctors in New Delhi, with special focus on subclinical hypothyroidism, pregnancy, and old age, and to compare it with global practices. METHODS During an academic program attended by 394 doctors, all participants were given a questionnaire designed based on thyroid practices survey done by Burch et al. to evaluate the practice patterns. Questions were based on evaluating doctor's preferred choices in diagnosis, therapy, and follow-up of hypothyroidism in different scenarios. RESULTS Responses from 308 questionnaires (general physicians [n = 204], obstetricians [n = 51], pediatricians [n = 27], surgeons [n = 12], endocrinologists [n = 10], and others [n = 4]) were analyzed. In the evaluation of 52-year-old female patient with primary hypothyroidism, 52% doctors would prefer thyroid ultrasonography, comparable to global rates. Nearly 96.1% doctors would have initiated levothyroxine, with a large majority of doctors (83.77%) preferred using branded levothyroxine. About 58.74% doctors preferred gradual restoration of euthyroidism. Levothyroxine dose of 25 mcg was the most preferred increment dose (46.07%) during follow-up, with 6 weekly being the most frequent dose adjustment frequency (41.57%). Most preferred target thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) in the 52-year-old female patient was 2.5-4.99 mU/L (63.96%), 25-year-old female patient was 1-2.49 mU/L (53.90%), and in 85-year-old female was 2.5-4.99 mU/L (45.45%). Only 68% of doctors in our study preferred keeping TSH <2.5 mU/L during the first trimester of pregnancy, in contrast to global trends of 95% (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION There was a disproportionately high use of ultrasonography in hypothyroidism management, near exclusive preference for branded levothyroxine, widespread use of age-specific TSH targets, and low threshold for treating mild thyroid failure, a highly variable approach to both rates and means of restoring euthyroidism for overt primary hypothyroidism. There is a need for spreading awareness regarding TSH targets in pregnancy.