Thyroid Function and Mortality in Older Men: A Prospective Study
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CONTEXT: Mild abnormalities of thyroid function have been associated with both beneficial and detrimental effects on mortality. OBJECTIVE: Our objective was to determine the association between continuous TSH as well as categories of thyroid function with total and cause-specific mortality in a cohort of older men. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Data were analyzed from the Osteoporotic Fractures in Men (MrOS) study, a cohort of community-dwelling U.S. men aged 65 yr and older. A total of 1587 participants randomly selected for thyroid function testing were included in this analysis. TSH and free T4 were measured at baseline, and four categories of thyroid function were defined. (subclinical hyperthyroid; euthyroid; subclinical hypothyroid TSH<10 mIU/liter; and subclinical hypothyroid, TSH≥10 mIU/liter.) MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Total mortality, cardiovascular (CV) and cancer deaths were confirmed by review of death certificates. RESULTS: There were 432 deaths over a mean follow-up of 8.3 yr. In fully adjusted models, there was no association between baseline TSH and any death [relative hazard (RH)=1.01 per mIU/liter, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.95-1.06], CV death (RH=1.05 per mIU/liter, 95% CI 0.96-1.15), or cancer death (RH=0.96 per mIU/liter, 95% CI=0.85-1.07). There was also no statistically significant association between thyroid function category and total or cause-specific mortality, but few men (n=8) had subclinical hypothyroidism with TSH levels of 10 mIU/liter or higher. CONCLUSIONS: A single measurement of thyroid function did not predict total or cause-specific mortality in this cohort. These data support neither a beneficial nor a detrimental effect of subclinical thyroid dysfunction in older men. SUMMARY: Subclinical thyroid dysfunction is not associated with an increased risk of all-cause or CV mortality in older men.
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Some other, smaller studies have reached similar conclusions, although other smaller studies have failed to find a correlation.
“Some other, smaller studies have reached similar conclusions (374,383), although other smaller studies have failed to find a correlation (380,381,384,386).”
From 2016 American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Hyperthyroidism and Other Causes of Thyrotoxicosis (2016) · cites this paper as [386]
Some studies report increased overall mortality rates in SH subjects, especially older subjects, while others indicate no relation.
“Some studies report increased overall mortality rates in SH subjects (374,379-383), especially older subjects, while others indicate no relation (384)(385)(386)(387).”
From 2016 American Thyroid Association Guidelines for Diagnosis and Management of Hyperthyroidism and Other Causes of Thyrotoxicosis (2016) · cites this paper as [386]
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- Authors
- Waring, A. C., Harrison, S., Samuels, M. H., Ensrud, K. E., LeBlanc, E. S., Hoffman, A. R., Orwoll, E., Fink, H. A., Barrett-Connor, E., Bauer, D. C., & Study, F. T. O. F. I. M. (.
- Affiliations
- Division of Endocrinology and Metabolism (A.C.W.), San Francisco, California 94143
- California Pacific Medical Center (US)
- Oregon Health & Science University (US)
- Department of Medicine and Division of Epidemiology and Community Health (K.E.E.), Minneapolis, Minnesota 55455
- Kaiser Permanente (US)
- Stanford Medicine (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- University of California San Diego (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Corresponding author
- Waring, Avantika C.
- ORCID
- Venue
- The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism
- Publisher
- The Endocrine Society
- Published
- 2012-03-01
- Volume
- 97
- Issue
- 3
- Pages
- 862-870
- ISSN
- 0021-972X (ISSN-L)
- 1945-7197
- PMC
- PMC3319205
- OpenAlex
- W2086355023
- Cited by
- 86
- References
- 27
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 3 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 6 · 2019: 5 · 2018: 3 · 2017: 6 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 10 · 2014: 11 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 9.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institutes of Health (UL1TR000128, RR024140, AG027810)
- National Institute on Aging (U01 AR45580, U01-AG-18197, R34AG033669, U01AG018197, U01 AR45632, U01AG027810, U01 AR45654, U01 AR45614, U01 AR45583, AG027810, U01AG042140, U01 AR45647)
- National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (U01AR45614, U01-AR45632, U01 AR45647, U01AR045583, U01 AR-45583, U01-AR-45654, U01AR045580, U01AR045632, U01AR045654, U01AR045614, U01AR045647, U01AR066160, U01 AG18197, K24AR051895, U01AR45580)
- National Center for Research Resources (U01 AR45654, U01 AR45632, U01 AR45580, U01 AR45647, UL1RR024140, U01 AR45614, U01 AR45583, U01 AG18197)
- National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Disorders and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Hormonal and reproductive studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery
- Keywords
- thyroid function, thyroid-stimulating hormone, subclinical hypothyroidism, subclinical hyperthyroidism, free thyroxine, mortality, cardiovascular mortality, cancer mortality, older men, MrOS study, osteoporotic fractures
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Cardiovascular Diseases, Follow-Up Studies, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Thyroid Diseases, Thyroid Function Tests, Thyroid Gland, Thyrotropin, Thyroxine
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