Prevalence of thyroid nodules among centenarians and its correlation with chronic diseases

Objective To investigate the prevalence of thyroid nodules (TN) among centenarians in Hainan province and explore the association between thyroid nodules and major chronic diseases. Methods A mixed cross-sectional study of questionnaire survey, medical examination including ultrasonography and laboratory examination were conducted in elderly who resided in Hainan province and aged 100 and over, the subjects who have signed consent and complete data in both basic information and medical examination were included in this study. Eight hundred and four centenarians were finally enrolled and data of them was analyzed to investigate the prevalence of thyroid nodules and to explore its association with common chronic diseases by comparing the prevalence of chronic conditions between groups with and without thyroid nodules. Results The overall prevalence of TN was 73.5% (591/804) and the prevalence of TN was significantly higher in female when comparing with male [75.1%(505/672) vs 65.2%(86/132)](P 0.05), however, the factors associated with dyslipidemia and anemia such as TC [(4.6±1.2)mmol/L vs (4.3±1.5)mmol/L], LDL-C [(2.8±0.8)mmol/L vs (2.7±0.8)mmol/L], and Hb [(110.6±22.5) g/L vs (105.5±31.7)g/L] were significant higher in TN group than those in Non-TN group (P<0.05). Conclusions The thyroid nodule is common in centenarian population and its prevalence was higher in female than male. The associations between TN and biomarkers of dyslipidemia and anemia are found in the present study. Key words: Ultrasonography; Thyroid nodules; Prevalence; Centenarians