Table 3.
Disparities in thyroid disease prevalence before and during the COVID-19 (weighted % [95 % CI]) using data collected from KNHANES.
| Variable | Overall (1998–2021) |
Pre-pandemic era (1998–2019) |
During pandemic era (2020–2021) |
Ratio of OR (95 % CI), |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| during the pandemic versus pre-pandemic (reference) | ||||||||
| Weighted OR (95 % CI) | P-value | Weighted OR (95 % CI) | P-value | Weighted OR (95 % CI) | P-value | Ratio of OR (95 % CI) | P-value | |
| Age group | ||||||||
| 20–39 | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | ||||
| 40–59 | 2.20 (1.99 to 2.44) | <0.001 | 2.20 (1.98 to 2.45) | <0.001 | 2.11 (1.51 to 2.95) | <0.001 | 0.96 (0.67–1.36) | 0.816 |
| ≥60 | 2.33 (2.10 to 2.59) | <0.001 | 2.23 (1.99 to 2.49) | <0.001 | 2.65 (1.93 to 3.64) | <0.001 | 1.19 (0.85–1.66) | 0.315 |
| Sex | ||||||||
| Male | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00(ref) | 1.00(ref) | 1.00 (ref) | ||||
| Female | 5.27 (4.74 to 5.86) | <0.001 | 5.38(4.80 to 6.04) | <0.001 | 4.69 (3.59 to 6.14) | <0.001 | 0.87 (0.65–1.17) | 0.357 |
| Region of residence | ||||||||
| Rural | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | ||||
| Urban | 1.04 (0.94–1.14) | 0.456 | 1.05 (0.94–1.16) | 0.396 | 0.94 (0.73–1.21) | 0.616 | 0.90 (0.68–1.18) | 0.428 |
| BMI groupa | ||||||||
| Underweight | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | ||||
| Normal or overweight | 4.59 (3.71 to 5.69) | <0.001 | 5.05 (4.01 to 6.36) | <0.001 | 2.73 (1.60 to 4.64) | <0.001 | 0.54 (0.30–0.97) | 0.038 |
| Obese | 4.55 (3.64 to 5.68) | <0.001 | 4.94 (3.88 to 6.28) | <0.001 | 2.75 (1.58 to 4.79) | <0.001 | 0.56 (0.30 to 1.02) | 0.058 |
| Education | ||||||||
| College or higher | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | ||||
| High school or lower | 1.16 (1.08 to 1.25) | <0.001 | 1.18 (1.09 to 1.28) | <0.001 | 1.30 (1.04 to 1.64) | 0.024 | 1.10 (0.87–1.40) | 0.432 |
| Household income | ||||||||
| Lowest and second quartile | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | ||||
| Third and highest quartile | 1.03 (0.96–1.11) | 0.405 | 1.03 (0.95–1.11) | 0.548 | 1.00 (0.81–1.23) | 0.983 | 0.97 (0.78–1.21) | 0.795 |
| Perceived stress level | ||||||||
| Hardly at all | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | ||||
| A little | 1.18 (1.05 to 1.33) | <0.001 | 1.18 (1.04 to 1.34) | 0.011 | 1.18 (0.87 to 1.59) | 0.285 | 1.00 (0.72–1.39) | 1.000 |
| Quite a lot | 1.24 (1.08 to 1.41) | <0.001 | 1.18 (1.02 to 1.37) | 0.025 | 1.58 (1.14 to 2.19) | 0.007 | 1.34 (0.94–1.92) | 0.110 |
| Greatly | 1.49 (1.22 to 1.82) | <0.001 | 1.42 (1.15 to 1.77) | <0.001 | 1.89 (1.14 to 3.11) | 0.013 | 1.33 (0.77–2.30) | 0.305 |
| Weight change | ||||||||
| No weight change | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | ||||
| Weight loss | 0.90 (0.80–1.02) | 0.100 | 0.91 (0.80–1.04) | 0.175 | 0.84 (0.60–1.17) | 0.302 | 0.92 (0.64–1.32) | 0.662 |
| Weight gain | 1.11 (1.01 to 1.22) | 0.041 | 1.13 (1.02 to 1.25) | 0.023 | 0.97 (0.74–1.26) | 0.796 | 0.86 (0.65–1.14) | 0.294 |
| Occupation category | ||||||||
| White collar job | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | 1.00 (ref) | ||||
| Blue collar job | 0.89 (0.79–1.01) | 0.061 | 0.91 (0.80–1.03) | 0.141 | 0.90 (0.66–1.22) | 0.501 | 0.99 (0.71–1.38) | 0.948 |
| Others | 0.86 (0.77 to 0.96) | 0.008 | 0.86 (0.76 to 0.97) | 0.014 | 0.98 (0.75–1.29) | 0.897 | 1.14 (0.85–1.53) | 0.389 |
Abbreviations: BMI, body mass index; CI, confidence interval; KNHANES, Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey; OR, odds ratios.
The numbers in bold indicate significant differences (p < 0.05).
a
According to the Asian–Pacific guidelines, the BMI is divided into four groups: underweight (<18.5 kg/m2), normal (18.5–22.9 kg/m2), overweight (23.0–24.9 kg/m2), and obese (≥25.0 kg/m2).