Gender-specific determinants of goiter

Despite the strong implications of differences between females and males in the risk of goiter, gender-specific issues have not been extensively addressed in investigations of goiter prevalence. The objective of our analysis was to investigate the gender-specific determinants of goiter. Between April 2001 and April 2002. A total of 853 healthy employees from 4 institutions in the western part of Germany between 18 and 68 yr of age were examined by ultrasound of the neck to determine the thyroid volume. Information on sex, age, daily use of iodized salt, the history of goiter in the first-degree relatives, type and amount of smoking, oral contraceptives, and number of pregnancies were assessed by standardized questionnaires. Gender-specific predictors of goiter prevalence were assessed by multivariate logistic regression. The overall prevalence of goiter among study subjects was 204/853 (23.9%). Goiter was present in 80 out of 370 females (21.6%) vs 124/483 (25.7%) in males. In general, smoking (p<0.0001), increasing age (p<0.0001), and lack of daily intake of iodized salt (p=0.004) were associated with goiter prevalence, but not sex (p=0.39) and family history of goiter (p=0.16). In 370 females, parity (p=0.004) and lack of daily intake of iodized salt (p=0.01) were the major determinants for goiter, whereas age (p=0.18), oral contraceptives (p=0.82), family history of goiter (p=0.33), and smoking (p=0.09) did not affect goiter prevalence. In 483 males, smoking (p<0.0001) and age (p<0.001) affected goiter prevalence, but not family history of goiter (p=0.39), and the iodine status failed just to reach the significant level (p=0.08) in this analysis. Gender-specific determinants of goiter are parity and iodine status in females and smoking and increasing age in males.