ESPE Abstracts

Background: While the relationship between subclinical hypothyroidism and major depressive disorder (MDD) has been studied in adults in cross-sectional and prospective population-based studies, this has not yet been done in adolescents. However, since thyroid function and MDD risk are subjected to maturational processes and ramifications of illness duration over the life span, these findings may not readily transfer to adolescents.

Methods: The relationship between subclinical hypothyroidism and MDD was studied in a representative subsample of the nationwide KIGGS (‘The German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Children and Adolescents) survey. A total of 4,118 adolescents were examined over a median period of 6 years, and data were analyzed by a logistic regression approach accounting for important covariates related to thyroid function and/or MDD risk. The same approach was chosen to investigate the relationship between quartiles of TSH and fT4 levels and incident MDD in euthyroid participants to broaden the focus on the relationship between thyroid hormone levels and MDD in a dose–response manner.

Results: During the observation period, 121 cases of MDD were reported. There was no association between subclinical hypothyroidism and MDD when comparing 111 adolescents with subclinical hypothyroidism to 4,007 euthyroid adolescents, representative of approximately 106,000 and 3,610,000 adolescents from the general pediatric population, respectively. This also applied when studying the relationship between quartiles of TSH and fT4 levels and MDD in euthyroid participants.

Conclusions: Consistent with findings in adults, there is no association between subclinical hypothyroidism orquartiles of TSH and fT4 levels in the normal range and MDD in adolescents, despite potential age-related differences regarding thyroid function and MDD risk.