Awareness of Thyroid Disorders among Nepalese Women: A Cross-Sectional Study

Background Thyroid disorders are emerging public health issues. Clients’ awareness is crucial for prevention, early diagnosis, and treatment of the thyroid disorders. Studies, assessing knowledge on thyroid disorders among Nepalese population, is lacking. Objective To assess the awareness of thyroid disorders among women, a susceptible subgroup, and find the correlates of poor knowledge. Method A cross-sectional study was conducted among 423 women at the gynecological outpatient department of Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital. Eighteen-item scale, with a Cronbach’s Alpha of 0.913, was developed to assess participant’s knowledge on various constructs of thyroid disorder. A linear regression model with Bootstrap approach was used to identify the predictors of the total knowledge score. Result The mean (±SD) age of the participant was 29.2 ± 7.0 years. About 49% of the women had inadequate knowledge, defined at or below the mean cumulative knowledge score. In linear regression, the total knowledge score was significantly lower among participants who were Janajati (β=-2.87, BCa 95%CI=-4.61,-1.11), illiterate (β=-6.37, BCa 95%CI =-9.14,-3.21), and low income (β=-3.76, BCa 95%CI=-5.68,-1.83). Likewise, a university education (β=5.94, BCa 95%CI=3.50, 8.26), working status (β=4.04, BCa 95%CI=2.19, 5.81), urban residence (β=2.06, BCa 95%CI=0.02, 3.96) and family history (β=2.20, BCa 95%CI=0.71, 3.63) of thyroid disorder predicted higher knowledge score. Conclusion This study identified a poor level of knowledge on thyroid disorders among Nepali women and thus proposes them to be an important subgroup for an intervention or policy aimed at promoting awarenessof thyroid disorders. The findings also warrant increased awareness among these population through hospital and community-based behavior change communication campaigns.