Thyroid Ultrasonography Screening Findings: A Comparison between Male and Female University Students
Main Article Content
Abstract
Objective: to compare the results of US thyroid screening findings between the male and female cohort of asymptomatic Saudi Arabian university students.
Methods: One hundred and fifty six university students were enrolled in a quantitative descriptive study from November 2024 to January 2025. They were selected through a simple sampling. An Esaote MyLab40 US machine with a 7 MHz probe was used. The thyroid was bilaterally evaluated with the US for length, echotexture, and abnormalities. The Independent T-test, Pearson's correlations, cross-tabulation, and descriptive statistics were applied for the data analysis.
Results: the mean age of the participants was 21.3±1.3 years, and the mean BMI was 23.7 ±6.3. The right thyroid lobe's mean length and anteroposterior (AP) diameter were 3.8 ± 0.48 cm and 1.2 ± 0.26 cm, respectively. The left lobe mean length and AP diameter were 3.5 ±0.49 cm and 1.1± 0.30 cm, respectively. 84.6% of the participants had normal findings; the positive findings were 15.4 % (n = 24): cystic nodules found in 10.3%, predominantly solid, thyroiditis, and dilated cervical lymph nodes were noted in a similar percentage (1.3%). The positive findings were more frequent in the female students (87.5% (out of 24)). The statistical analysis indicated a significant association between the US findings and the BMI p =0.04. The mean length of the Rt. and Lt. male thyroid lobes was greater than the females, t = 5.204 and 5.354, respectively, and p < 0.05. Conclusion: The study concluded that the thyroid US incidental findings were significant, more frequent in females, and associated significantly with the BMI. The male's mean thyroid length was greater than that of the females.
Article Details
The Medical Research Archives grants authors the right to publish and reproduce the unrevised contribution in whole or in part at any time and in any form for any scholarly non-commercial purpose with the condition that all publications of the contribution include a full citation to the journal as published by the Medical Research Archives.
References
2. Durante C, Grani G, Lamartina L, Filetti S, Mandel SJ, Cooper DS. The diagnosis and management of thyroid nodules. JAMA. 2018; 319 (9):914. doi:10.1001/jama.2018.0898
3. Gnarini VL, Brigante G, Della Valle E, et al. Very high prevalence of ultrasound thyroid scan abnormalities in healthy volunteers in Modena, Italy. PubMed. Published online October 1, 2013. doi:10.3275/8931
4. Babiker MS, Alamin FA, Almteri M, Alradaddi A, Alharbi W. Thyroid ultrasonography screening of a cohort of male university students. Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography. Published online November 16, 2024. doi:10.1177/87564793241293444
5. Can AS, Rehman A: Goiter. St. Petersburg, FL: StatPearls; 2020. Accessed October 23, 2024. https://www. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK562161/.
6. Ha EJ, Chung SR, Na DG, et al. 2021 Korean Thyroid Imaging Reporting and Data System and Imaging-Based Management of Thyroid Nodules: Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology Consensus Statement and Recommendations. Korean Journal of Radiology. 2021; 22(12):2094. doi:10.3348/kjr.2021.0713
7. opoulos N, Goulis DG, Chrisogonidis I, Giannoula E, Iakovou I. Ultrasound characteristics of Hashimoto’s thyroiditis in the subclinical stages of the disease. WFUMB Ultrasound Open. 2023; 1(2):100022. doi:10.1016/j.wfumbo.2023.100022
8. Bafaraj S, Awad I, Jastaniah S, Abbas H, Musa A. Screening for thyroid diseases among students of applied medical sciences at King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Medical Journal. 2018; 39(3):311-314. doi:10.15537/smj.2018.3.22137
9. Bibbins-Domingo K, Grossman DC, Curry SJ, et al. Screening for thyroid cancer. JAMA. 2017; 317(18):1882. doi:10.1001/jama.2017.4011
10. Kim SJ, Moon WK, Cho N. Sonographic criteria for fine-needle aspiration cytology in a korean female population undergoing thyroid ultrasound screening. Acta Radiologica. 2010; 51(5):475-481. doi:10.3109/02841851003641834
11. Senashova O, Samuels M. Diagnosis and management of nodular thyroid disease. Techniques in Vascular and Interventional Radiology. 2022; 25(2):100816. doi:10.1016/j.tvir.2022.100816
12. Mm M, Ma EA, Ta S. Thyroid ultrasound findings and its associated parameters in Saudi people. Annals of Thyroid Research. 2021; 7(2). doi:10.26420/annalsthyroidres.2021.1078
13. Ji Yang Kim, Chang Hyun Lee, Soo Young Kim, et al. Radiologic and Pathologic Findings of Nonpalpable Thyroid Carcinomas Detected by Ultrasonography in a Medical Screening Center. Journal of ultrasound in medicine. 2008; 27(2):215-223. doi:https://doi.org/10.7863/jum.2008.27.2.215
14. Remonti LR, Kramer CK, Leitao CB, Pinto LCF, Gross JL. Thyroid Ultrasound Features and Risk of Carcinoma: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies. Thyroid. 2015; 25(5):538-550. doi:https://doi.org/10.1089/thy.2014.0353
15. Bin Saeedan M, Aljohani IM, Khushaim AO, Bukhari SQ, Elnaas ST. Thyroid computed tomography imaging: pictorial review of variable pathologies. Insights into Imaging. 2016;7(4):601-617. doi:https://doi.org/10.1007/s13244-016-0506-5
16. Lee MK, Na DG, Joo L, et al. Standardized Imaging and Reporting for Thyroid Ultrasound: Korean Society of Thyroid Radiology Consensus Statement and Recommendation. Korean Journal of Radiology. 2023;24(1):22. doi:https://doi.org/10.3348/kjr.2022.0894
17. Basnet P, Singh AK, Uphadhayay HP, Chaulagain R. Ultrasound Evaluation of Normal Thyroid Size. JCMS Nepal. 2022; 18(4), 315. https://doi.org/10.3126/jcmsn.v18i4.50275
18. Alsaqer FA, Kulaib WA, Alkhorayef M, Mahmoud MZ, Sulieman A. Effects of body weight, height, and body mass index on thyroid volume among healthy undergraduate Saudi males using ultrasound. Biomedical Research - India. 2018; 29(9). doi:10.4066/biomedicalresearch.29-18-419
19. Xu W, Chen Z, Li N, et al. Relationship of anthropometric measurements to thyroid nodules in a Chinese population. BMJ Open. 2015; 5(12):e008452. doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2015-008452