th percentile), and mortality assessed during an 18-month follow-up period after their hospital discharge. rESulTS: Out of 2599 older patients admitted to our hospital, 7% had TFT performed for various reasons. The patients who had TFT were mostly women and presented in a more serious clinical condition compared to the rest of the patients. The patients were grouped as per their thyroid values as follows: 61% of them had a non-thyroidal illness, 25% were euthyroid, 7% had overt hyperthyroidism, 5% overt hypothyroidism and 1% had subclinical hyper-or hypothyroidism. The hypothyroid patients had a worse clinical outcome compared to the others. Patients with increased MM exhibited higher TSH and lower TT4 (p<0.005). Short-term MM (Or=2.0,95%cI=1.1-3.6, p<0.01) was associated with the decrease of TT4 adjusted by age, sex, T3 and TSH, while for long-term MM the increase in TSH (Or=1.6,95%cI 1.1-2.3, p<0.05) was also significant. cONcluSION: Among hospitalized older patients who had TFT tests, low TT4 and high TSH were associated with a worse prognosis. We propose that TFT be used as an additional tool in assessing MM in elderly hospitalized patients.

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Overt hypothyroidism during hospitalization was associated with elevated mortality. Further studies would reveal if TFT alterations compatible with hypothyroidism should be diagnosed/treated in hospitalized elderly patients.