| 2003 Thyroid Survey Results -- Part 1 | |
By Mary J. Shomon
This is the first large-scale quality of life survey of
thyroid patients, and the first to look at critical patient concerns such as
unrelieved symptoms, weight problems, attitudes toward patient organizations,
smoking behavior, and effective treatments and solutions.
A summary of the survey findings is located at:
http://thyroid.about.com/library/weekly/aasurveysumm.htm
From late 2001 to 2002, a survey was conducted with readers
of Mary Shomon’s various thyroid disease websites. Final results will be
published later in 2003, but preliminary results, based on a tally of 907
respondents, are being published here, to bring increased visibility to thyroid
issues to help highlight the January 2003 commemoration of Thyroid Awareness
Month.
The tally of results of the survey are as follows:
What is your diagnosed thyroid condition? (check all that apply)
Total Number of Responses / Percentage of All 907 Respondents
907
100.0%
Hypothyroidism
639
70.5%
Hashimoto's Disease
347
38.3%
Thyroid Nodules
129
14.2%
Goiter/Enlarged Thyroid
92
10.1%
Graves' Disease
80
8.8%
Hyperthyroidism
55
6.1%
Thyroid Cancer
40
4.4%
Other
18
2.0%
If you were diagnosed with thyroid cancer, what type of cancer?
Total Number of Responses / Percentage of All 907 Respondents
40
4.41%
Papillary
26
65.0%
2.9%
Other
8
20.0%
0.9%
Follicular
5
12.5%
0.6%
Medullary
1
2.5%
0.1%
Anaplastic
0
0.0%
0.0%
When were you diagnosed?
Total Number of Responses / Percentage of All 907 Respondents
803
88.53%
Within the past 5 years
330
41.1%
36.4%
Within the past year
255
31.8%
28.1%
More than 10 years ago
120
14.9%
13.2%
Within the past 5-10 years
98
12.2%
10.8%
What is your gender?
Total Number of Responses / Percentage of All 907 Respondents
861
94.9%
Female
831
96.5%
91.6%
Male
30
3.5%
3.3%
How old are you now?
Total Number of Responses / Percentage of All 907 Respondents
837
92.3%
40 - 50
454
54.2%
50.1%
50 - 60
150
17.9%
16.5%
30 - 40
120
14.3%
13.2%
20 - 30
70
8.4%
7.7%
60 - 70
36
4.3%
4.0%
70+
7
0.8%
0.8%
Under 15 years old
0
0.0%
0.0%
15 - 20
0
0.0%
0.0%
At what age were you diagnosed?
Total Number of Responses / Percentage of All 907 Respondents
841
92.7%
40 - 50
280
33.3%
30.9%
20 - 30
232
27.6%
25.6%
30 - 40
201
23.9%
22.2%
50 - 60
90
10.7%
9.9%
15 - 20
20
2.4%
2.2%
60 - 70
10
1.2%
1.1%
8-15 years old
7
0.8%
0.8%
70+
1
0.1%
0.1%
At birth
0
0.0%
0.0%
From 1 to 8 years old
0
0.0%
0.0%
Note: the survey was conducted among those who volunteered to submit information, and therefore is informational, and not for statistical purposes.
All survey contents and survey results © Copyright Mary Shomon, 2002-2003.
