Doctors -- Even Endocrinologists -- Don't Know Enough About Managing Thyroid Disease and Pregnancy

An interesting study just published in the journal Thyroid reports on how knowledgeable various types of doctors are about thyroid disease in pregnancy.

A total of 412 physicians completed a 16-item questionnaire regarding thyroid disease and pregnancy. The physicians included 116 endocrinologists, 81 obstetrician-gynecologists, 109 internists, and 99 family practitioners.

Find out how many answered the questions correctly (the answer will surprise you), and what specialties did best.

Overall, only 63% of the doctors answered all the questions correctly. (See the questions here. ) Endocrinologists had the highest rate of correct responses, but even then, only 77% had all the answers correct. They were followed by obstetrician-gynecologists.

Says the study:

Our findings indicate a disturbingly low level of knowledge in physicians across all disciplines regarding the field of thyroid disease and pregnancy. Interestingly, the knowledge gaps were related to both areas of relatively recent knowledge in the field of thyroid disease and pregnancy (the increased incidence of postpartum thyroiditis in women with type 1 diabetes mellitus), as well as facts that have been known for decades.

Furthermore, although it may be reassuring to endocrinologists that their specialty demonstrated the highest degree of knowledge, the overall knowledge score of 77% is anything but comforting. For example, only 71% of endocrinologists are aware that postpartum thyroiditis is increased in women with type 1 diabetes, and only 74% are familiar with the interplay between the immune changes of pregnancy postpartum and Graves’ disease. This low score may be attributed to a lack of adequate education on thyroid disease during pregnancy, lack of exposure to women during pregnancy, or the inability to translate research into clinical knowledge."

This definitely makes it very clear that when it comes to getting pregnant, thyroid patients need to educate themselves. (Thyroid Disease and Pregnancy Help.)

Source: Rinaldi, Marie, and Alex Stagnaro-Green. Thyroid Disease and Pregnancy: Degrees of Knowledge, Thyroid. 2007, 17(8): 747-753. doi:10.1089/thy.2007.0080.