Prevalence, Clinical Presentation and Patterns of Thyroid Disorders Among Anterior Neck Mass Patients Visiting Jimma Medical Center, Southwest Ethiopia

Background: Thyroid disorders refer to benign or malignant condition affecting the structure and function of the thyroid gland that may present as a derangement of thyroid hormone secretion, thyroid enlargement or pain. Thyroid disease is a global health problem and the most common type of endocrine disorders next to diabetic mellitus accounting around 30% to 40% burden of the endocrine disorder.


Introduction
Thyroid gland secrets thyroid hormones which are essential for growth, neuronal development, reproduction and regulation of energy metabolism [1]. Thyroid diseases/disorders/dysfunction refer to benign or malignant condition affecting the structure and function of the thyroid gland that may present as a derangement of thyroid hormone secretion, thyroid enlargement or pain. Thyroid disease is a global health problem that can substantially impact well-being, as it is one of the most common endocrine disorder next to diabetic mellitus accounting around 30% to 40% of the endocrine disorders [2,3]. The prevalence of thyroid disorders was the highest in Africa and WHO revealed that the continent represents over 25% of the global burden of the disease [4]. Thyroid dysfunction is common, readily identifiable and easily treatable, but if undiagnosed or untreated, it can have profound adverse effects.
Thus, timely screening, discriminating types and management is mandatory because the ultimate goal of establishing routine screening programs is to provide appropriate timely treatment, prevent complications and reduce morbidity and mortality related to disease [5,6]. Thus, the present study was aimed to assess the magnitude and pattern of thyroid disorders among patients with anterior neck mass visiting JMC based upon clinical decision and serum levels of TFTs.

Study Area and Setting
The study was conducted in outpatient, medical and surgical clinic of Jimma Medical Center (JMC) among patients with anterior neck mass in 2018 GC. JMC is one of the specialized referral teaching hospitals in the country providing health service at inpatient and outpatient level for the catchment of over 15 million populations in the southwest of the country. JMC has no endocrine clinic and patients with known thyroid disorders have follow up and visiting at the outpatient, medical and surgical clinic of the hospital.

Data Collection Method
A structured questionnaire was used to obtain sociodemographic characteristics and variables related to symptoms of thyroid dysfunction. Pertinent finding/signs were also recorded after physical investigation. Serum level of thyroid hormones (TSH, T3, T4) were measured by electro-chemiluminescence immune assay method at JMC laboratory.

Data Processing and Analysis
Data was entered into EpiData version 3.1 and exported to SPSS

Ethical Consideration
Ethical clearance to conduct the study was obtained from the ethical review board of Jimma University, before official commencement of the data collection process. Written and orally informed consent was obtained from all patients before data collection. Patient's confidentiality, equity of services and interests of patients was ensured during the study period.    and stage IA 6 (2.5%) (Figure 1).

Mass
The magnitude of signs and symptoms of patients were displayed in Table 3

Anterior Neck
Types

Discussion
In the present study conducted among a total of 239 patients with prevalence of 20.8% [28]. Despite the higher prevalence of iodine deficiency thyroid disorder and thyroid malignancy/ lesion reported in the continent, Ethiopia and the setting [16,[29][30][31][32][33], the present study was not discriminated them as other means of diagnosis like FNAC, ultrasound and urine iodine analysis not performed which was considered as the limitation of the study.