What is the epidemiology of subclinical thyroid disease?
• What are the consequences of untreated subclinical thyroid disease? How should it be evaluated? • What are the risks and benefits of treatment for subclinical thyroid disease? • Is screening for subclinical thyroid disease warranted? The questions were presented to a panel of 13 experts selected by the planning committee who were either senior endocrinologists not known to publish or be advocates in this area or experts in other relevant fields. Members of the planning committee were not members of the panel. Eight of the panelists were experts in thyroid disease and the remaining 5 had expertise in cardiology, epidemiology, biostatistics, evidence-based medicine, health services research, general internal medicine, and clinical nutrition. The conference was held September 21-23, 2002. The meeting was open to the public and attended by members of the 3 sponsoring societies. Continuing medical education credit was provided through the Endocrine Society. All potential conflicts of inte
