Table 2.
Association between use of imaging tests and treatments for recurrence, in patients with thyroid cancer, based on SEER-Medicare data in 1998-2011
| Characteristic | Repeat neck surgery | Radioactive iodine treatment | Radiotherapy | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) | P | Adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) | P | Adjusted odds ratio (95% CI) | P | |||
| Neck ultrasound | ||||||||
| No | 1 (reference) | <0.001 | 1 (reference) | <0.001 | 1 (reference) | 0.17 | ||
| Yes | 2.30 (2.05 to 2.58) | 1.45 (1.26 to 1.69) | 1.08 (0.97 to 1.20) | |||||
| Radioiodine (iodine 131) scan | ||||||||
| No | 1 (reference) | <0.001 | 1 (reference) | <0.001 | 1 (reference) | <0.001 | ||
| Yes | 3.39 (3.06 to 3.76) | 17.83 (14.49 to 22.16) | 1.89 (1.71 to 2.10) | |||||
| PET scan | ||||||||
| No | 1 (reference) | <0.001 | 1 (reference) | <0.001 | 1 (reference) | <0.001 | ||
| Yes | 2.31 (2.09 to 2.55) | 2.13 (1.89 to 2.40) | 4.98 (4.52 to 5.49) | |||||
Analysis based on patients with complete set of information (n=22 770). Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals based on propensity score analyses. Model adjusted for age, sex, race, education, income, stage of disease, histology, tumor size, surgery type, and lymph nodes resected.