Thyroid Function and Risk of Bloodstream Infections: Results from the Norwegian Prospective Population-based HUNT Study

Objective Previous studies on thyroid function and risk of infection is conflicting and often stem from intensive care cohorts were nonthyroidal illness syndrome (NTIS) may be present. The objective of this study was to identify the risk of bloodstream infections (BSI) and BSI-related mortality with thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) levels within the reference range in a general population. Design Prospective follow-up. Participants The HUNT2 (1995-97) included 34,619 participants with information on TSH levels. Measurements Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence interval (CI) confirmed BSIs and BSI-related mortality until 2011. Results During a median follow-up of 14.5 years, 1179 experienced at least one episode of BSI and 208 died within 30 days after a BSI. TSH levels within the reference range of 0.5–4.5 mU/L were not associated with the risk of first-time BSI, with an HR of 0.97 (95% CI: 0.90–1.04) per mU/L. Stratified by baseline age