Table 2.
Risk factors of thyroid cancer prior to disease onset comparing Arab American women and non-hispanic white women residing in metropolitan Detroit, MI
| Risk factor | ArA N = 30 |
NHW N = 70 |
P-value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medical history | |||
| Prior thyroid disease (TD) (28, 68) | 14 (50) | 50 (74) | 0.0165 |
| Thyroid nodule | 4 | 28 | |
| Thyroiditis | 0 | 1 | |
| Hypothyroidism | 1 | 11 | |
| Hashimoto disease | 1 | 11 | |
| Hyperthyroidism | 2 | 6 | |
| Graves disease | 0 | 2 | |
| Goiter | 3 | 15 | |
| Family history of TD (30, 70) | 3 (10) | 32 (46) | 0.0018 |
| Family history of cancer (28, 68) | 13 (46) | 34 (50) | 0.7864 |
| Diet | |||
| Iodized salt intake (27, 68) | 23 (85) | 53 (78) | 0.4003 |
| Mediterranean diet (28, 68) | 24 (85) | 25 (36) | 0.0001 |
| Xray/radiation history | |||
| Received dental x-rays (22, 67) | 0.0164 | ||
| Less frequent than annually | 3 (14) | 11 (16) | |
| Once a year | 11 (27) | 51 (76) | |
| Twice a year | 6 (27) | 4 (6) | |
| Other | 2 (9) | 1 (2) | |
| Radiation exposure at work (8, 44) | 1 (12.5) | 8 (18) | 0.6960 |
| CT scans (27, 68) | 15 (56) | 38 (56) | 0.7887 |
| Medical radiation (27, 68) | 8 (30) | 8 (12) | 0.0359 |
| Frequency of radiation (8, 7) | 3.12 ± 3.35 | 49.71 ± 67.37 | 0.1172 |
| Age at radiation (7, 8) | 33.85 ± 15.14 | 31.12 ± 19.37 | 0.7645 |
| Reasons for radiation | |||
| Medical testing | 0 | 3 | |
| Cancer treatment | 0 | 2 | |
| Medical treatment | 2 | 2 | |
| Unknown | 6 | 0 | |
| Hormonal exposure | |||
| Age at menarche (20, 66) | 12.6 ± 1.23 | 12.37 ± 1.67 | 0.5233 |
| Age at first pregnancy (23, 62) | 21.26 ± 3.85 | 24.08 ± 5.32 | 0.0096 |
| Ever used hormones (27, 68) | 8 (30) | 50 (74) | 0.0001 |
| Reasons for hormone use: (7, 50) | 0.1270 | ||
| Contraception | 5 | 36 | |
| Menopause | 2 | 15 | |
| Infertility/other | 0 | 4 | |
| Age when first started using hormones (7, 50) | 34.87 ± 12.12 | 27.36 ± 11.92 | 0.1361 |
| Cumulative years used hormones (8, 48) | 3.62 ± 4.50 | 10.16 ± 8.44 | 0.0047 |
| Pregnancy (27, 68) | 23 (85) | 62 (91) | 0.3908 |
| Miscarriage (25, 65) | 9 (39) | 20 (31) | 0.4635 |
| Experienced menopause (27, 68) | 16 (59) | 42 (62) | 0.0749 |
| Cigarette exposure | |||
| Smoked 100 cigarettes in lifetime (27, 68) | 4 (15) | 27 (40) | 0.0196 |
| Smoked cigarettes before diagnosis (4, 27) | 4 | 24 | 0.1599 |
| Age started smoking (4, 27) | 20.25 ± 3.40 | 16.85 ± 2.01 | 0.1378 |
| Age when last smoked (2, 23) | 22.5 ± 7.77 | 33.22 ± 11.60 | 0.2632 |
| Average cigarettes per day smoked (3, 25) | 15.33 ± 12.66 | 14.26 ± 11.29 | 0.8997 |
| Alcohol exposure | |||
| Drank alcoholic beverages (27, 68) | 5 (19) | 50 (74) | 0.0001 |
| 0 drinks per week | 3 (60) | 25 (50) | |
| 1–3 drinks per week | 1 (20) | 18 (36) | |
| 3–6 drinks per week | 1 (20) | 5 (10) | |
| 7 or more drinks per week | 0 | 2 (4) |
Total responses for categorical variables are indicated in small print for both ethnic groups next to variable headings. Numbers in parentheses are percentages. Level of significance is P < 0.05 for two-tailed test