Prevalence of goiter in Taiwanese adults: a preliminary study

Although there have been many studies on the prevalence of goiters in Taiwanese school children, the goiter prevalence in Taiwanese adults is unknown. This is a preliminary study of the prevalence of goiter in adults admitted for health examinations to the National Taiwan University Hospital. The thyroid glands of 1,020 adults were palpated. Thyroid ultrasonography was also performed on all adults to confirm the palpation findings and to check goiter nodularity. Fine-needle aspiration cytology was done in nodular goiters with or without ultrasound guidance, depending on whether or not the thyroid nodules were easily located by palpation. The adult goiter prevalence was found to be 19.4% in males, 33.6% in females and 25% in total. Seven out of 1,020 adults (0.7%) had thyroid cancers diagnosed by aspiration cytology and confirmed by surgery and pathology. Of the seven adults with thyroid cancer one did not have a palpable goiter. The results show a high prevalence of goiter in these adults. Thyroid ultrasonography is useful for screening thyroid malignancy in adults. If thyroid nodules are detected, fine-needle aspiration cytology can be done with or without ultrasound guidance to confirm the malignancy.