The DOI matches its Crossref record; 65 of the 65 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The Thyrotropin Reference Range Should Remain Unchanged
Abstract
CONTEXT: Recent recommendations to decrease the upper limit of the TSH reference range from 4.5 to 2.5 mIU/liter, based on the high proportion of normal people whose serum TSH is less than 2.5 mIU/liter and the observation that those with TSH between 2.5 and 4.5 mIU/liter [upper reference range (URR)] have increased risk of progression to overt hypothyroidism (Whickham, 20-yr data), have not been subjected to critical analysis. STUDY SUBJECTS: The study subjects were from the Reference Group of NHANES III, 14,333 people more than 12 yr old, without known thyroid disease or antithyroid antibodies; 85% had TSH levels below 2.5 mIU/liter, and 2.3% had subclinical hypothyroidism (SCH). An additional 9.7% had URR TSH, representing 20.6 million Americans, who would also be identified as SCH if the upper TSH limit were decreased. Many with URR TSH do not have thyroid disease. INTERVENTION: The time of phlebotomy is important, because the TSH level varies throughout the day, with early morning values greater than later ones, and is accentuated by sleep deprivation, strenuous exercise, or working during the night or evening shifts. Repeated measurements in the same individual vary considerably over months. RESULTS: About half of those with URR TSH probably have thyroid disease, but most with thyroid disease, antithyroid peroxidase antibodies, have TSH below 2.5 mIU/liter. Those with URR TSH with thyroid disease probably have minimal thyroid deficiency, without any reported adverse health consequences or benefit of treatments with levothyroxine. CONCLUSION: Because routine levothyroxine treatment is not recommended for SCH, it is certainly not warranted in individuals with URR TSH. For all patients with URR TSH, it is reasonable to determine serum TSH every 1-2 yr.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“Thus, lowering the TSH upper limit would classify 15–20% of the elderly population as subclinical hypothyroidism, a condition for which treatment benefits are unproven [55].”
From Age-related variation in thyroid function – a narrative review highlighting important implications for research and clinical practice (2023) · cites this paper as [55]
In the citing paper
“An alternative argument accepts that a substantial proportion of people in the upper part of the TSH reference range will indeed have some form of occult thyroid disease but with a sufficiently benign prognosis that it is unnecessary to alter reference ranges to reclassify these by defining healthy people as thyroid patients [57].”
From Challenges in Interpreting Thyroid Stimulating Hormone Results in the Diagnosis of Thyroid Dysfunction (2019) · cites this paper as [57]
Citations
Cites
Grundy, S. M., Bilheimer, D. W., Chait, A., Clark, L. T., Denke, M. A., Havel, R. J., Hazzard, W. R., Hulley, S. B., Hunninghake, D. B., Kreisberg, R. A., et al. (1993) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.269.23.3015 · Cited by 27,944
Chobanian, A. V., Bakris, G. L., Black, H. R., Cushman, W. C., Green, L. A., Izzo, J. L., Jones, D. W., Materson, B. J., Oparil, S., Wright, J. T., et al. (2003) · Hypertension · doi:10.1161/01.hyp.0000107251.49515.c2 · Cited by 13,271
Hollowell, J. G., Staehling, N. W., Flanders, W. D., Hannon, W. H., Gunter, E. W., Spencer, C. A., & Braverman, L. E. (2002) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.87.2.489 · Cited by 4,279
Follow-up report on the diagnosis of diabetes mellitus
The Expert Committee on the Diagnosis and Classification of Diabetes Mellitus* (2003) · Diabetes Care · doi:10.2337/diacare.26.11.3160 · Cited by 3,784
The Colorado Thyroid Disease Prevalence Study
Canaris, G. J., Manowitz, N. R., Mayor, G., & Ridgway, E. C. (2000) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinte.160.4.526 · Cited by 2,824
The incidence of thyroid disorders in the community: a twenty-year follow-up of the Whickham Survey
Vanderpump, M. P. J., Tunbrldge, W. M. G., French, J. M., Appleton, D., Bates, D., Clark, F., Evans, J. G., Hasan, D. M., Rodgers, H., Tunbridge, F., et al. (1995) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2265.1995.tb01894.x · Cited by 2,432
Subclinical Thyroid Disease: Scientific Review and Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management
Surks, M. I., Ortiz, E., Daniels, G. H., Sawin, C. T., Col, N. F., Cobin, R. H., Franklyn, J. A., Hershman, J. M., Burman, K. D., Denke, M. A., et al. (2004) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.291.2.228 · Cited by 1,800
Self-citationHak, A. E., Pols, H. A. P., Visser, T. J., Drexhage, H. A., Hofman, A., & Witteman, J. C. M. (2000) · Annals of Internal Medicine · doi:10.7326/0003-4819-132-4-200002150-00004 · Cited by 1,336
Low Serum Thyrotropin Concentrations as a Risk Factor for Atrial Fibrillation in Older Persons
Sawin, C. T., Geller, A., Wolf, P. A., Belanger, A. J., Baker, E., Bacharach, P., Wilson, P., Benjamin, E. J., & D'Agostino, R. B. (1994) · New England Journal of Medicine · doi:10.1056/nejm199411103311901 · Cited by 1,259
Thyroid Status, Disability and Cognitive Function, and Survival in Old Age
Gussekloo, J. (2004) · JAMA · doi:10.1001/jama.292.21.2591 · Cited by 899
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Jonklaas, J., Bianco, A. C., Bauer, A. J., Burman, K. D., Cappola, A. R., Celi, F. S., Cooper, D. S., Kim, B. W., Peeters, R. P., Rosenthal, M. S., et al. (2014) · Thyroid® · doi:10.1089/thy.2014.0028 · Cited by 1,928
“However, this is not a universally endorsed approach (56).”
Garber, J. R., Cobin, R. H., Gharib, H., Hennessey, J. V., Klein, I., Mechanick, J. I., Pessah-Pollack, R., Singer, P. A., & Woeber, K. A. (2012) · Endocrine Practice · doi:10.4158/ep12280.gl · Cited by 1,567
The Clinical Significance of Subclinical Thyroid Dysfunction
Biondi, B., & Cooper, D. S. (2008) · Endocrine Reviews · doi:10.1210/er.2006-0043 · Cited by 1,418
Garber, J. R., Cobin, R. H., Gharib, H., Hennessey, J. V., Klein, I., Mechanick, J. I., Pessah-Pollack, R., Singer, P. A., & Woeber for the American Association, K. A. (2012) · Thyroid · doi:10.1089/thy.2012.0205 · Cited by 1,053
Surks, M. I., & Hollowell, J. G. (2007) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2007-1499 · Cited by 750
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Surks, M. I., Goswami, G., & Daniels, G. H.
- Affiliations
- Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Surks, Martin I.
- ORCID
- Daniels, Gilbert H.
- Venue
- The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
- Publisher
- The Endocrine Society
- Published
- 2005-09
- Volume
- 90
- Issue
- 9
- Pages
- 5489-5496
- ISSN
- 0021-972X (ISSN-L)
- 1945-7197
- OpenAlex
- W2098761773
- Cited by
- 287
- References
- 65
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 12 · 2021: 7 · 2020: 4 · 2019: 9 · 2018: 15 · 2017: 15 · 2016: 15 · 2015: 14 · 2014: 18 · 2013: 24 · 2012: 16
- FWCI
- 13.66
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Disorders and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Medical Laboratory Technology › Clinical Laboratory Practices and Quality Control
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
- Keywords
- upper reference limit, subclinical hypothyroidism, levothyroxine therapy, thyroid peroxidase antibodies, thyroid dysfunction, NHANES III, thyroid screening
- MeSH terms
- Humans, Hypothyroidism, Reference Values, Thyrotropin, Thyroxine
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
