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Psychological impacts of thermal ablation and conventional thyroidectomy in BTN patients: a prospective observational study

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Abstract

Background

Thermal ablation and conventional thyroidectomy are effective therapeutic methods for treating benign thyroid nodules (BTNs), but the psychological impacts of these methods in BTN patients are largely unknown.

Materials and methods

This survey study prospectively enrolled patients who were admitted to our hospital between July 2021 and July 2022. The four validated scales were applied to quantify psychological distress and sleep quality at five points (the day admitted to the hospital, the day discharged from the hospital, and 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment). Participants who were diagnosed with BTNs and completed the questionnaires were ultimately enrolled and divided into thermal ablation and conventional thyroidectomy groups. A propensity score matching (PSM) cohort was subsequently developed to evaluate longitudinal and cross-sectional changes in psychological-related indicators.

Results

Among 548 eligible BTN patients, 460 patients completed all the questionnaires throughout the follow-up (response rate: 83.94%), including 368 (80.00%) patients who underwent thermal ablation and 92 (20.00%) patients who underwent conventional thyroidectomy. After PSM, a total of 342 patients were enrolled (256 patients underwent thermal ablation, and 86 patients underwent conventional thyroidectomy). The psychological-related indicators of patients in the thermal ablation group remained relatively stable during the 6-month follow-up, but patients in the conventional thyroidectomy group may have experienced greater anxiety and sleep quality concerns in the longitudinal assessment. Additionally, in the cross-sectional evaluation, the sleep quality of the thermal ablation group was also better than that of the conventional thyroidectomy group postoperatively.

Conclusions

Thermal ablation is superior to conventional thyroidectomy for BTN patients in terms of psychological-related indicators.

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Data availability

Some or all datasets generated during and/or analyzed during the current study are not publicly available but are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Author contributions

T Wei, JQ Zhu, JY Lei, GP Li and ZH Li were responsible for the study conception, design and supervision. P Zhang and LL Wang performed the data collection and data analysis. P Zhang and JY Lei wrote and revised the manuscript.

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Author notes

  1. These authors contributed equally: Pan Zhang, Lanlan Wang

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Thyroid Surgery, Department of General Surgery, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, 610041, China

    Pan Zhang, Lanlan Wang, Genpeng Li, Tao Wei, Jingqiang Zhu, Jianyong Lei & Zhihui Li

  2. The Laboratory of Thyroid and Parathyroid Disease, Frontiers Science Center for Disease-related Molecular Network, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, Chengdu, China

    Pan Zhang, Lanlan Wang, Genpeng Li, Tao Wei, Jingqiang Zhu, Jianyong Lei & Zhihui Li

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  1. Pan Zhang
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Correspondence to Zhihui Li.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

The study protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board of West China Hospital of Sichuan University (Number: 2021 (969)), and informed consent was obtained from the participants included in the study.

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Zhang, P., Wang, L., Li, G. et al. Psychological impacts of thermal ablation and conventional thyroidectomy in BTN patients: a prospective observational study. Endocrine (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12020-024-03814-3

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