Chao Meng,1 Ping Yang,2 Yanan Wang,3 Siyan Liu,3 Xueyan Wu,3 Shaolian Wang3 

1Department of General Medicine, Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Endocrinology, Central Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, People’s Republic of China

Correspondence: Shaolian Wang, Email 15318816221@sina.cn

Background: To investigate the prevalence of thyroid nodules among medical staff and health check-up population in a Level-A hospital (Primary-level hospital) in Jinan City and analyze its influencing factors.
Methods: A total of 5812 cases from the two groups were screened. t-test and χ2 tests were used to analyze the differences in the prevalence of thyroid nodules. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors.
Results: The average age of medical staff was (36.20± 9.11) years old, and the total prevalence was 48.5%. The average age of the healthcare population was (57.89± 12.51) years old, and the total prevalence rate was 63.9%, with statistical significance between the two groups (P< 0.001 for all). A stratified analysis of the two groups showed that the prevalence increased with age, and the prevalence among medical workers of all ages was higher than that of the health population younger than 50 years of age. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that female sex (OR=1.646,95% CI: 1.315– 2.060), older age (OR=1.384,95% CI: 1.265– 1.514), and high BMI (OR = 1.199, 95% CI: 1.065– 1.350) were risk factors for the disease among medical staff. In the health population, female sex (OR=0.799,95% CI: 0.644– 0.992) and high TSH levels (OR = 0.918, 95% CI: 0.874– 0.964) were protective factors, while older age (OR=1.634,95% CI: 1.525– 1.751) was a risk factor.
Conclusion: There are certain differences in the prevalence of thyroid nodules between the two groups. Age and occupation are important influencing factors. While age is uncontrollable, active regulation of emotional status caused by occupational factors has important clinical guiding significance for reducing the prevalence of thyroid nodules and reducing the social medical burden.

Keywords: thyroid nodules, prevalence, risk factors, medical staff, healthcare professions, occupational health