Health-related Behaviours of Women Diagnosed with <i>Hashimoto's</i> Disease

Abstract

The survey was conducted to assess health-related behaviours of women diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis also known as Hashimoto's disease. A correlation was found between the respondents' age and the body mass index. The presence of comorbidities was significantly correlated with both the body mass index and respondents' age. It was shown that respondents with excessive body weight developed cardiovascular diseases more often (p=0.01) than the other women. Respondents aged 30-39 years maintained normal body weight more often than the 40-49-year-olds (p=0.001). Nearly half of the respondents did not receive additional recommendations (n=63, 45.5%) from the attending doctor on supplementation or changes in the lifestyle. The most frequent recommendations included supplementation with vitamin D, introduction of a diet, physical activity, and avoidance of stress. There are still no guidelines for Hashimoto's thyroiditis patients that would systematise the current knowledge of the general treatment of this disease.