Table 1 Demographic and disease-specific characteristics of the recruited sample (N = 291)

Place of living

 Capital

91 (31.3%)

 Other cities

147 (50.5%)

 Village

50 (17.2%)

 Other

3 (1%)

Education

 Primary school

4 (1.4%)

 Vocational or high school

111 (38.1%)

 College or university BA

101 (34.7%)

 College or university MA

 PhD

70 (24.1%)

5 (1.7%)

Marital status

 Single

32 (11%)

 In relationship

236 (81.1%)

 Divorced

20 (6.9%)

 Widow

1 (0.3%)

 Other

2 (0.7%)

Sex

 Male

10 (3.4%)

 Female

280 (96.2%)

 Other

1 (0.3%)

Type of disease

 Hashimoto’s thyroiditis

240 (82.5%)

 Graves’ disease

51 (17.5%)

Time since the diagnosis, years Mean (SD)

6.74 (6.89)

History of thyroid removal surgery

22 (7.6%)

Comorbidities with other chronic conditions

109 (37.5%)

Lifetime psychiatric diagnosis

59 (20.3%)