Table 2.
Sociodemographic characteristics and risk factors for thyroid disease in the study population of volunteers aged 21–80 years, Ashkelon, Israel, March 2012–March 2014
| Control | AITD | NATD | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristic | Mean or n | sd or % | Mean or n | sd or % | Mean or n | sd or % | P |
| n | 37 | 8 | 29 | ||||
| Gender, n (women, men) | 30, 7 | 8, 0 | 22, 7 | ||||
| Age (years) | |||||||
| Mean and sd | 56·3 | 13·6 | 53·4 | 13·4 | 57·2 | 13·8 | NS |
| Range | 23·0–77·0 | 29·0–70·0 | 21·0–80·0 | ||||
| Israeli born, n and % | 13 | 35 | 5 | 63 | 7 | 24 | NS |
| Nationality, n (Jewish, other) | 36, 1 | 8, 0 | 29, 0 | ||||
| Tertiary education, n and % | 11 | 30 | 4 | 50 | 13 | 45 | NS |
| Possible risk factors for thyroid disease, n and % | |||||||
| Daily dietary goitrogen exposure | 11 | 30 | 1 | 11 | 6 | 21 | NS |
| Daily excessive alcohol consumption | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NS |
| Previous X-ray examinations | 16 | 43 | 5 | 56 | 12 | 43 | NS |
| Post-psychological stressful event* | 9 | 24 | 6 | 67 | 8 | 29 | <0·05 |
| Prior use of thyroid-disrupting medication* | 2 | 5 | 3 | 33 | 1 | 4 | <0·05 |
| Family history of thyroid disease | 8 | 22 | 2 | 22 | 6 | 21 | NS |
| Current smoking habits | 10 | 27 | 2 | 22 | 7 | 25 | NS |
| Menopause (for women) | 26 | 87 | 7 | 88 | 16 | 73 | NS |
AITD, autoimmune thyroid disease; NATD, non-autoimmune thyroid disease.
*
Significant difference (Fisher’s exact test, α=0·05).