Research Article

Changes in the Demographic and Clinicopathological Characteristics of Thyroid Cancer: A Population-Based Investigation in Algeria, 1993-2013

Table 1

Demographic and clinical characteristics of thyroid cancer patients according to sex and the period of diagnosis.

CharacteristicsTotal ()1993-1997 ()1998-2002 ()2003-2007 ()2008-2013 ()Total ()1993-1997 ()1998-2002 ()2003-2007 ()2008-2013 ()
WomenMen

Sex ratio (F : M)6.4 : 17.4 : 15.8 : 16.3 : 16.6 : 10.76
Mean age (yrs) (±SD)0.480.37
Median (Min–Max)43 (11-94)36 (13-80)43 (14-79)43 (15-94)42 (12-85)49 (11-81)51 (20-60)49 (11-81)49 (24-80)46 (28-79)
Circumstances of diagnosis()()()()()0.08()()()()()0.049
 Self-neck check687 (83.1)41 (71.9)113 (80.1)165 (80.5)368 (86.8)0.01118 (69.8)3 (33.3)22 (64.7)29 (67.4)65 (78.3)0.11
 Goiter/nodules83 (10.0)9 (15.8)16 (11.3)26 (12.7)32 (7.5)0.0732 (18.9)3 (33.3)6 (17.6)9 (20.9)15 (18.1)0.9
 Medical exam47 (5.7)6 (10.5)11 (7.8)13 (6.3)17 (4.0)0.092 (1.2)0 (0)0 (0)0 (0)0 (0)NA
 Medical imaging10 (1.2)1 (1.8)1 (0.7)1 (0.5)7 (1.7)0.5717 (10.1)3 (33.3)6 (17.6)5 (11.6)3 (3.6)<0.01
 Unknown#421 (33.7)39 (40.6)114 (44.7)92 (30.9)176 (29.3)26 (13.3)4 (30.8)10 (22.7)4 (8.5)8 (8.8)
History of thyroid diseases§()()()()()<0.001()()()()()<0.01
 None643 (84.5)25 (83.3)168 (95.5)219 (94.0)231 (71.7)<0.001108 (87.8)6 (100)34 (97.1)36 (94.7)32 (72.7)<0.01
 Goiter94 (12.4)4 (13.3)6 (3.4)9 (3.9)75 (23.3)<0.00114 (11.4)0 (0)1 (2.9)2 (5.2)11 (25.0)<0.01
 Thyroiditis§24 (3.2)1 (3.3)2 (1.1)5 (2.1)16 (5.0)<0.0011 (0.8)0 (0)0 (0)0 (0)1 (2.3)NA
 Unknown#487 (39.0)66 (68.7)79 (30.9)64 (21.5)278 (46.3)72 (36.9)7 (53.8)9 (20.4)9 (19.1)47 (51.6)
Pathological diagnosisǁ()()()()()()()()()()
 TCN559 (49.7)44 (48.9)119 (51.1)124 (45.8)272 (51.2)0.0782 (47.1)3 (27.3)24 (57.1)11 (24.4)44 (57.9)<0.01
 Goiter486 (43.2)39 (43.3)96 (41.2)124 (45.8)227 (42.7)0.7583 (47.7)8 (72.7)17 (40.5)28 (62.2)30 (39.5)0.32
 Thyroiditis§80 (6.5)7 (7.8)18 (6.9)23 (8.5)32 (5.1)0.829 (5.1)0 (0)1 (2.4)6 (13.3)2 (2.6)0.65
 Unknown#123 (9.8)6 (2.3)22 (8.6)26 (8.7)69 (11.5)0.1521 (10.8)2 (15.4)2 (4.5)2 (4.2)15 (16.5)0.60

Abbreviations: : frequencies; F: females; M: males; yrs: years; SD: standard deviation; Min: minimum; Max: maximum; TCN: thyroid cold nodules. statistical test for trend; value showing difference between groups excluding unknown (Student’s -test). Men were significantly older than women (). Variance analysis. for heterogeneity (females versus males). § for heterogeneity (females versus males). ¶ included colloid goiters, parenchymatous goiters, multinodular goiters, and multinodular heterogengoiters. ǁ includes Grave’s disease, Hashimoto thyroiditis, lymphocytic thyroiditis, and de Quervain’s thyroiditis.