Table 2. Baseline characteristics of patients with benign thyroid nodules treated with radiofrequency ablation and open thyroidectomy before and after Propensity Score Matching.
| Characteristics | Before matching | After matching | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RFA n = 137 | OT n = 267 | P value | RFA n = 108 | OT n = 108 | P value | |
| Age (y) | 48.3 ± 12.9 | 52.4 ± 12.7 | 0.003 | 50.8 ± 11.9 | 49.8 ± 13.6 | 0.532 |
| Sex | <0.001 | 0.775 | ||||
| Male | 38(27.7) | 129(48.3) | 36(33.3) | 39(36.1) | ||
| Female | 99(72.3) | 138(51.7) | 72(66.7) | 69(63.9) | ||
| Ethnic group | 0.862 | 0.701 | ||||
| Han-Chinese | 133(97.1) | 260(97.4) | 105(97.2) | 104(96.3) | ||
| Other | 4(2.9) | 7(2.6) | 3(2.8) | 4(3.7) | ||
| SF-36 dimension scores | ||||||
| PF | 87.8 ± 11.2 | 86.9 ± 13.8 | 0.510 | 87.5 ± 10.8 | 87.1 ± 13.2 | 0.778 |
| RP | 91.8 ± 12.9 | 91.2 ± 10.6 | 0.690 | 91.7 ± 12.8 | 90.3 ± 10.2 | 0.469 |
| BP | 92.2 ± 13.2 | 94.4 ± 10.9 | 0.085 | 92.9 ± 12.8 | 94.1 ± 11.1 | 0.480 |
| GH | 65.8 ± 15.5 | 64.5 ± 16.4 | 0.036 | 65.3 ± 15.6 | 64.9 ± 16.2 | 0.647 |
| VT | 69.2 ± 15.2 | 69.1 ± 17.4 | 0.913 | 69.4 ± 15.3 | 69.1 ± 17.4 | 0.792 |
| SF | 93.2 ± 17.6 | 91.9 ± 17.4 | 0.102 | 92.5 ± 17.8 | 92.5 ± 16.7 | 0.945 |
| RE | 92.7 ± 14.9 | 88.9 ± 18.2 | 0.035 | 91.7 ± 15.8 | 91.0 ± 15.5 | 0.773 |
| MH | 75.7 ± 16.1 | 74.1 ± 16.8 | 0.017 | 75.3 ± 16.3 | 76.0 ± 15.7 | 0.394 |
| Smoke | 0.929 | 1.000 | ||||
| Yes | 37(27) | 71(26.6) | 28(25.9) | 28(25.9) | ||
| No | 100(73) | 196(73.4) | 80(74.1) | 80(74.1) | ||
| Drink | 0.890 | 0.785 | ||||
| Yes | 57(41.6) | 113(42.3) | 48(44.4) | 50(46.3) | ||
| No | 80(58.4) | 154(57.7) | 60(55.6) | 58(53.7) | ||
| Chronic diseases | 0.976 | 0.884 | ||||
| Yes | 47(34.3) | 92(34.5) | 35(32.4) | 34(31.5) | ||
| No | 90(65.7) | 175(65.5) | 73(67.6) | 74(68.5) | ||
| Marital status | 0.197 | 0.984 | ||||
| Unmarried | 12(8.8) | 15(5.6) | 7(6.5) | 8(7.4) | ||
| Married | 118(86.1) | 224(83.9) | 94(87) | 94(87) | ||
| Widowed | 6(4.4) | 26(9.7) | 6(5.6) | 5(4.6) | ||
| Divorced | 1(0.7) | 2(0.7) | 1(0.9) | 1(0.9) | ||
| Other | 0(0) | 0(0) | 0(0) | 0(0) | ||
| Monthly income (Y) | 0.337 | 0.757 | ||||
| <3000 | 23(16.8) | 36(13.5) | 14(13) | 13(12) | ||
| 3000–7999 | 69(50.4) | 152(56.9) | 55(50.9) | 58(53.7) | ||
| >8000 | 34(24.8) | 67(25.1) | 29(26.9) | 31(28.7) | ||
| data privacy | 11(8) | 12(4.5) | 10(9.3) | 6(5.6) | ||
| Education lever | 0.147 | 0.441 | ||||
| Primary education and lower | 9(6.6) | 29(10.9) | 9(8.3) | 9(8.3) | ||
| Secondary/high education | 62(45.3) | 133(49.8) | 56(51.9) | 47(43.5) | ||
| University education and higher | 66(48.2) | 105(39.3) | 43(39.8) | 52(48.1) | ||
| Current job | 0.004 | 0.900 | ||||
| Manual worker | 20(14.6) | 17(6.4) | 11(10.2) | 11(10.2) | ||
| Office worker | 55(40.1) | 85(31.8) | 39(36.1) | 44(40.7) | ||
| Retire | 50(36.5) | 128(47.9) | 46(42.6) | 43(39.8) | ||
| Other | 12(8.8) | 37(13.9) | 12(11.1) | 10(9.3) | ||
| Nodule volume (ml)a | 5.7(3.9–9.1) | 5.2(1.4–11.2) | 0.026 | 5.6(3.9–8.7) | 5.3(2.2–10.4) | 0.104 |
Note: RFA group, patients treated with radiofrequency ablation; OT group, patients treated with open thyroidectomy; Except for nodule volume and P values, data are reported as No. (%) or mean ± standard deviations.
aData are with skewed distribution and are reported as median with the inter-quartile range in parentheses and analyzed using Mann-Whitney U test; SF-36, Short Form-36, PF = Physical Functioning, RP = Role-Physical, BP = Bodily Pain, GH = General Health, VT = Vitality, SF = Social Functioning, RE = Role-Emotional, MH = Mental Health.