Evaluation of the Thyroid Function in Newborns by Means of Factor Analysis

In neonates the thyroid gland is very sensitive to iodine deficit. This hypersensitivity is due to a less efficient mechanism of adaptation to iodine deficiency (1). The main purpose of the present study was to evaluate the thyroid function in newborns for whom four different thyroid Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) were diagnosed: hypothyroxinemia, transient hypothyroidism, hyperthyrotropinemia without goitre, and hyperthyrotropinemia with goitre. The study was carried out shortly after the iodine prophylaxis (salt iodisation) in Poland had been resumed after nearly 10 years of break. So, it was interesting to compare the evolution of particular disorders in subsequent years and the evolution of correlations between parameters used to diagnose cases. Some relevant insights were done by help of factor analysis, which aimed to explain the observed relations among parameters and to find basic casual influences on them. As a research instrument, factor analysis and other pattern recognition methods have been used in numerous studies dedicated to clinical practice and epidemiology (2–4).