The prevalence of thyroid nodules in northwest China and its correlation with metabolic parameters and uric acid

This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of thyroid nodules (TN) and investigate its correlation with metabolic parameters, especially uric acid (UA) in northwest Chinese population. We conducted a large cross-sectional survey with 67,781 residents (33,020 men, 34,761 women), aged from 18 to 86 years in Shanxi, China, from January 2012 to December 2014. A thyroid ultrasound examination was performed with number and size of nodules being recorded. Metabolic parameters including body mass index (BMI), blood pressure (BP), triglycerides (TG), total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-c), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-c), fasting glucose (FG), and uric acid (UA) were also examined. Our study revealed that approximately 30.7% of men and 39.9% of women in Northwest China had TN, about half of which were multi-nodularity and a quarter of their TN larger than 1 cm. The prevalence of TN increased with aging and increasing BMI, and metabolic disorders, which also related to the increased incident of multi-nodularity and larger TN. Serum UA appeared to be a protective factor for TN in men older than 30 years, but a risk factor in both men younger than 30 years and women older than 30 years. This phenomenon needs to be further investigated.