Association between rheumatoid arthritis and thyroid dysfunction: a meta-analysis and systematic review.
Open accessAbstract
Objective: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disorder. Multiple studies have investigated the risk of thyroid dysfunction in patients with RA but have reached conflicting conclusions. This systematic review aimed to determine whether patients with RA are at higher risk of thyroid dysfunction. Methods: We comprehensively reviewed online literature databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and the Cochrane Library, from their respective inception dates to March 25, 2022. Studies that provided data on at least one case of thyroid dysfunction in RA patients and their controls were included. Based on these data, we calculated pooled odds ratios (ORs) and their corresponding 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for thyroid dysfunction in RA and non-RA patients. Results: Twenty-nine studies met the inclusion criteria, involving a total of 35,708 patients with RA. The meta-analysis showed that, compared with non-RA patients, RA patients had an increased risk of developing thyroid dysfunction, particularly hypothyroidism (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.78-2.84). Subgroup analysis suggested that study type and sample source of control group were the source of heterogeneity. Conclusions: Patients with RA are at increased risk of developing thyroid dysfunction, especially hypothyroidism. Routine biochemical examination of thyroid function in RA patients should be strengthened. Larger prospective studies are needed to explore the causal relationship between RA and thyroid dysfunction, and to investigate the impact of thyroid dysfunction on RA disease activity, drug efficacy, and medication safety. Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/, identifier CRD42022331142.
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Autoimmune hypothyroidism may be present with rheumatoid arthritis (5%-26.2%).
“Autoimmunehypothyroidismmaybepresentwithother autoimmunediseases, such as type 1 diabetes (9.8%) and rheumatoidarthritis (5%-26.2%),reflectinganunderlyingimmunedysregulation and shared genetic factors. 12-15”
From Hypothyroidism: A Review (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
The Results (Synthesis of results; page not provided) report that rheumatoid arthritis patients had a higher risk of hypothyroidism, and the Discussion says most hypothyroidism is caused by autoimmune disease. The paper does not give the claimed 5%–26.2% range for autoimmune hypothyroidism in rheumatoid arthritis patients; its pooled measure is an odds ratio for hypothyroidism, not a prevalence range for autoimmune hypothyroidism. (LLM, conf=0.88)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredAutoimmune hypothyroidism may be present with type 1 diabetes (9.8%).
“Autoimmunehypothyroidismmaybepresentwithother autoimmunediseases, such as type 1 diabetes (9.8%) and rheumatoidarthritis (5%-26.2%),reflectinganunderlyingimmunedysregulation and shared genetic factors. 12-15”
From Hypothyroidism: A Review (2025) · cites this paper as [14]
The Introduction and Discussion address thyroid dysfunction in rheumatoid arthritis, not the prevalence of autoimmune hypothyroidism in people with type 1 diabetes. Searches for “type 1 diabetes” and “9.8%” found no passage supporting that figure; a diabetes-related work appears only in the References (no page available). (LLM, conf=0.76)
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- Authors
- Liu, Y.-J., Miao, H.-B., Lin, S., & Chen, Z.
- Affiliations
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Fujian Medical University (CN)
- Corresponding author
- Chen, Zhen
- Venue
- Frontiers in Endocrinology
- Publisher
- Frontiers Media SA
- Published
- 2022-10-13
- Volume
- 13
- Pages
- 1015516-1015516
- ISSN
- 1664-2392 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9608862
- OpenAlex
- W4304893388
- Cited by
- 49
- References
- 68
- Citations by year
- 2026: 5 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 15
- FWCI
- 1.57
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- Locations
- Frontiers in Endocrinology (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Science and Technology Bureau of Quanzhou (2020CT003, 2017Z009)
- Natural Science Foundation of Fujian Province
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Disorders and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Rheumatoid Arthritis Research and Therapies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Research
- Keywords
- rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid dysfunction, hypothyroidism, autoimmune disease comorbidity, thyroid screening, disease activity
- MeSH terms
- Arthritis, Rheumatoid, Humans, Hypothyroidism, Prospective Studies, Thyroid Diseases
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