Elevated Serum Thyroglobulin and Low Iodine Intake Are Associated with Nontoxic Nodular Goiter among Adults Living near the Eastern Mediterranean Coast

Table 2

Demographic characteristics, serum Tg values, and estimated dietary iodine intake of the study groups.

Characteristics	Control	Hypothyroidism	NNG
	31	14	17
Gender (women, men)	25, 6	12, 2	13, 4
Age (years)
Mean^±	58 ± 13	54 ± 17	60 ± 10
Range (years)	23–77	21–71	49–80
Serum Tg (ng/mL)
Mean	17^AB	11^B	35^A
Median	21	12	27
Range	2–59	1–101	2–792
25th–75th percentiles range	12–32	3–43	10–182
(abnormally elevated values)	0 (0%)	1 (7%)	5 (29%)
Estimated dietary iodine intake (μg/d)
Mean^±	115 ± 60^B	73 ± 38^AB	65 ± 30^A
Median	109	76	67
Range (μg/d)	27–263	29–165	10–113

Plus-minus values are mean ± SD.
^ABMeans without a common letter are significantly different (Tukey-Kramer, α = 0.05).
(abnormally elevated values) = number of participants with Tg values above 60 ng/mL.
displayed as number of positive cases (percentage in brackets).
Groups are significantly different (Fisher exact test, < 0.05).
Tg: thyroglobulin; NNG: nontoxic nodular goiter; ng/mL: nanogram per milliliter; μg/d: microgram per day.