Table 1.
Characteristics of Thyroid Cancer Patients Before Thyroidectomy
| Variablea | Total (n = 452) n (%) | |
|---|---|---|
| Sex | ||
| Female | 426 | 94.2 |
| Males | 26 | 5.8 |
| Age at diagnosis (mean: 44.6, SD: 14.56) | ||
| < 20 years old | 17 | 3.8 |
| 20–34 years old | 106 | 23.5 |
| 35–44 years old | 104 | 23 |
| 45–54 years old | 128 | 28.3 |
| 55–64 years old | 53 | 11.7 |
| 65–74 years old | 26 | 5.8 |
| 75–84 years old | 16 | 3.5 |
| > 84 years old | 2 | 0.4 |
| Residence | ||
| Coast | 49 | 10.8 |
| Highland | 389 | 86.1 |
| Amazon | 14 | 3.1 |
| Galapagos | 0 | 0 |
| Employment | ||
| Domestic chores | 332 | 73.5 |
| Student | 20 | 4.4 |
| Labor | 100 | 22.1 |
| Education level | ||
| None | 22 | 4.9 |
| Elementary School | 267 | 59.1 |
| High school | 132 | 29.2 |
| College | 31 | 6.9 |
| Family history of thyroid cancer | ||
| Yes | 62 | 13.7 |
| No | 390 | 86.3 |
| BMI (n = 298) (mean: 28.75, SD: 5.53) | ||
| Normal | 76 | 25.5 |
| Overweight | 113 | 37.9 |
| Obesity | 109 | 36.6 |
| Self-reported exposure to (n = 63) | ||
| Radiation | 4 | 6.3 |
| Chemicals in agriculture | 59 | 93.7 |
| Cigarette Smoking (n = 393) | ||
| Yes | 17 | 4.3 |
| No | 376 | 95.7 |
| Thyroid function | ||
| Euthyroid | 372 | 82.3 |
| Hypothyroidism | 72 | 15.9 |
| Hyperthyroidism | 8 | 1.8 |
| Methods of detection | ||
| Non-incidental (palpable nodule) | 207 | 45.8 |
| Incidental | 245 | 54.2 |
| - Ultrasound | 229 | 93.5 |
| - Histology | 13 | 5.3 |
| - Unrelated test | 3 | 1.2 |
| Setting of thyroid surgery (n = 450) | ||
| Tertiary Hospital | 270 | 60 |
| Non- tertiary hospital | 180 | 40 |
| Size of tumor (n = 406) (median = 2 cm [IQ 1.2, 3.1]) | ||
| ≤ 1 cm | 89 | 21.9 |
| > 1 cm | 317 | 78.1 |
| Focality (n = 416) | ||
| Unifocal | 230 | 55.3 |
| Multifocal | 186 | 44.7 |
| Cervical Lymph nodes metastasis (n = 436) | ||
| Si | 211 | 48.4 |
| No | 225 | 51.6 |
| MACIS score (n = 408) (median = 4.95 cm [IQ 4.15, 5.95]) | ||
| ≤ 6 | 311 | 76.2 |
| > 6 | 97 | 23.8 |
| Histopathology, (n = 447) | ||
| Papillary | 417 | 93.3 |
| Follicular | 12 | 2.7 |
| Hurtle cells | 7 | 1.5 |
| Poor differentiated | 3 | 0.7 |
| Anaplastic | 1 | 0.2 |
| Medullary | 7 | 1.6 |
| Risk recurrence (n = 437) | ||
| Very low risk | 79 | 18.1 |
| Low risk | 271 | 62.0 |
| Indeterminate risk | 49 | 11.2 |
| High risk | 38 | 8.7 |
aAll variables without a specific number of patients were calculated from the whole population (n = 452). All the others show the number of people from which the variables were available