Background Increased focus on well-being and quality-of-life issues in the management of various diseases has led to the earlier diagnosis and subsequent treatment of hypothyroidism in many patients seen by primary care physicians. In order to weigh the risks and benefits of thyroid hormone replacement therapy, recommendations concerning the diagnosis of hypothyroidism and initiation of levothyroxine (L-T 4) have been developed (1,2). The median serum TSH prompting the initiation of L-T 4 among over 52,000 individuals in the United Kingdom decreased from 8.7 mIU/L to 7.9 mIU/L between 2001 and 2009 (3), thus raising concerns about L-T 4 overuse and its potential harm. The current study (4) was performed to assess changes in thyroid hormone prescriptions for the treatment of hypothyroidism among general practitioners in Copenhagen between 2001 and 2015.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.