Table 2. Summary of the relationships between the calendar year (1995–2005) and the indicated characteristic in the Catania or the Messina cohort of Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT) patients.
| Characteristics | Catania series (1995–2005) | Messina series (1995–2005) | ||
| r (95% C.I.) | P | r (95% C.I.) | P | |
| New patients per year (n) | 0.953 (0.824 to 0.988) | 5.7×10−6 | 0.979 (0.920 to 0.995) | 1.5×10−7 |
| Female to male ratio (n/1) | 0.224 (−0.434 to 0.726) | 0.508 | −0.865 (−0.964 to −0.551) | 0.00006 |
| Age at presentation (mean) | 0.575 (−0.435 to 0.726) | 0.064 | 0.183 (−0.467 to 0.706) | 0.183 |
| Age at presentation (median) | 0.088 (−0.541 to 0.653) | 0.797 | 0.420 (−0.240 to 0.814) | 0.199 |
| Hyperthyroidism (prevalence, % of all pts.) | 0.472 (−0.178 to 0.836) | 0.142 | −0.497 (−0.844 to 0.146) | 0.12 |
| Euthyroidism (prevalence, % of all pts.) | 0.744 (0.261 to 0.929) | 0.0086 | −0.019 (−0.612 to 0.587) | 0.955 |
| Hypothyroidism (prevalence, % of all pts.) | −0.817 (−0.951 to −0.425) | 0.0021 | 0.215 (−0.442 to 0.722) | 0.526 |
| Subclinical hypo (prevalence % of hypo pts) | 0.329 (−0.338 to 0.776) | 0.323 | 0.694 (0.161 to 0.913) | 0.0178 |
| Overt hypo (prevalence, % of hypo pts) | −0.329 (−0.776 to 0.338) | 0.324 | −0.694 (−0.913 to −0.161) | 0.0178 |
| Atrophic variant (prevalence,%) | −0.505 (−0.848 to 0.137) | 0.113 | −0.703 (−0.916 to −0.178) | 0.0158 |
| Nongoitrous/nonnodular variant (preval., %) | 0.915 (0.697 to 0.978) | <0.0001 | 0.740 (0.252 to 0.928) | 0.0092 |
| Nongoitrous/nodular variant (prevalence, %) | 0.628 (0.0454 to 0.892) | 0.0384 | 0.859 (0.533 to 0.963) | 0.0007 |
| Goitrous/nonnodular variant (prevalence, %) | −0.777 (−0.939 to −0.331) | 0.0049 | −0.764 (−0.935 to −0.303) | 0.0062 |
| Goitrous/nodular variant (prevalence, %) | −0.496 (−0.844 to 0.148) | 0.121 | −0.805 (−0.947 to −0.398) | 0.0028 |
| Goitrous, regardless of nodules (preval., %) | −0.876 (−0.967 to 0.584) | 0.0004 | −0.816 (−0.905 to −0.425) | 0.0022 |
| Nodular, regardless of goiter (prevalence, %) | 0.157 (−0.488 to 0.619) | 0.644 | 0.348 (−0.318 to 0.784) | 0.294 |
| TgAb (prevalence of +ve cases,%) | 0.190 (−0.463 to 0.709) | 0.576 | −0.473 (−0.836 to 0.177) | 0.142 |
| TPOAb (prevalence of +ve cases, %) | −0.656 (−0.901 to −0.092) | 0.028 | −0.874 (−0.967 to −0.576) | 0.00044 |
| TgAb (levels in U/ml, mean) | 0.447 (−0.209 to 0.825) | 0.168 | −0.804 (−0.947 to −0.395) | 0.0028 |
| TgAb (U/ml, log-10 transf, mean) | 0.401 (−0.262 to 0.807) | 0.221 | −0.880 (−0.969 to −0.594) | 0.00035 |
| TgAb (levels in U/ml, median) | −0.356 (−0.788 to −0.310) | 0.282 | −0.683 (−0.910 to −0.140) | 0.020 |
| TPOAb (levels in U/ml, mean) | 0.325 (−0.341 to 0.774) | 0.329 | −0.821 (−0.952 to −0.437) | 0.0019 |
| TPOAb (U/ml, log-10 transf, mean) | 0.511 (−0.128 to 0.850) | 0.108 | −0.906 (−0.976 to −0.671) | 0.00012 |
| TPOAb (levels U/ml, median) | 0.083 (−0.544 to 0.651) | 0.808 | −0.689 (−0.912 to −0.152) | 0.019 |
P values<0.05 are typed boldface.