Thyroid disorders among active component military members, U.S. Armed Forces, 2002-2011.

During 2002-2011, among active component U.S. military members, the rates of idiopathic hypothyroidism were 39.7 and 7.8 per 10,000 person-years among females and males, respectively. Unadjusted rates of idiopathic hypothyroidism and chronic thyroiditis (e.g., Hashimoto's disease) were at least twice as high among white, non-Hispanic as black, non-Hispanic service members. However, black, non-Hispanic service members had higher rates of goiter and thyrotoxicosis. Increasing rates of thyroid disorders during the period were accompanied by increases in numbers of screening tests for thyroid function recorded during outpatient visits. Increased thyroid function testing since the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan may reflect increased testing of military members with mental disorders (e.g., depression, irritability, PTSD), musculoskeletal pain, sleep disorders, menstrual/fertility abnormalities, obesity, and other conditions which have sharply increased in prevalence over the same period.