Results of a community thyroid screening program: who will benefit?

To describe the results of a community-based thyroid screening program.

We review the recruitment process, the screening questionnaire, the laboratory procedure, and the data analysis.

News media advertisements and facility-sponsored communications were used to recruit 1,176 participants, each of whom completed a health questionnaire and had blood withdrawn for a thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) assay. Most participants were female (78%), Caucasian (92%), and age 50 years or older (61%). Data from 1,139 participants were analyzed. Abnormal TSH values were found in 107 participants: TSH was low in 21 (2%) and elevated in 86 (8%). Elevated TSH values occurred in 8% of females, 7% of males, 8% of Caucasians, and 7% of Hispanics. Although the percentage of elevated TSH values tended to increase with advancing age, primarily in females, 5% of participants younger than 50 years of age had an elevated TSH. No associations were apparent between abnormal TSH values and health maintenance organization membership, self-rating of overall health, or presence of thyroid-related symptoms. Participants who rated their overall health as "excellent" or "very good" accounted for 48% of the TSH values >12 microIU/mL.

Experience gained from the conduct of this screening program may help shape the expectations of future screening programs that use disease awareness and self-motivation and provide insights into program design that may maximize participation by the desired target audiences.