Have a personal or library account? Click to login
Occurrence of clinically relevant thyroid nodules in adults Cover

Occurrence of clinically relevant thyroid nodules in adults

Open Access
|Jan 2026

Figures & Tables

FIGURE 1.

Study population flowchart.
Study population flowchart.

FIGURE 2.

Distribution of participants with respect to the number of thyroid nodules.
Distribution of participants with respect to the number of thyroid nodules.

FIGURE 3.

The proportion of all nodules and nodules > 5 mm in EUthyroid nonpregnant women of reproductive age.
* = p < 0.05 compared to all older age groups (Chi-squared test)
** = p < 0.05 compared to the age group > 40 years (Chi-squared test)
The proportion of all nodules and nodules > 5 mm in EUthyroid nonpregnant women of reproductive age. * = p < 0.05 compared to all older age groups (Chi-squared test) ** = p < 0.05 compared to the age group > 40 years (Chi-squared test)

Correlation of thyroid volume with age, body mass index (BMI), nodule characteristics, and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH)

Nutrihealth women N = 126Nutrihealth man N = 79EUthyroid women of reproductive age N = 305EUthyroid pregnant women N = 142
rhop-valuerhop-valuerhop-valuerhop-value
Age0.1000.266-0.0650.5690.1340.0190.1010.231
BMI-0.0110.9110.2420.039n.a.n.a.0.4040.001
Number of nodules0.416< 0.0010.3370.0020.1160.0420.1850.028
Number of nodules > 5 mm0.416< 0.0010.3200.0040.1560.0060.290< 0.001
Volume of dominant nodule0.3900.0040.5530.0020.0590.7270.2510.217
TSH-0.2690.005-0.509< 0.001-0.1510.008-0.2550.002

Clinical characteristics of nationally representativo Nutrihealth study group

All N = 205Women N = 126 (61.5%)Men N = 79 (38.5%)p-value
Age, years (median, range)62 (18–74)60 (20–74)64 (18–74)0.177
BMI, kg/m2 (median, range)26.3 (17.9–43.4)25.5 (17.9–43.4)26.8 (18.2–41.7)0.088
Thyroid volume, mL (median, range)8.15 (2.0–46.7)6.8 (2.0–46.7)10.8 (2.0–28.4)<0.001
Proportion of subjects with nodules (number, %)92 (44.9)60 (47.6)32 (40.5)0.069
Proportion of subjects with nodules > 5 mm (number, %)80 (39.0)52 (41.3)28 (35.4)0.058
Proportion of subjects with nodules > 0.5 mL (number, %)26* (13.7)18* (14.3)8* (10.1)0.385
Number of nodules per person with nodules (mean, range)2.3 (1–6)2.5 (1–6)1.8 (1–6)0.017
Dominant nodule volume, mL (median, range)0.28 (0.02–19.00)0.30 (0.02–19.00)0.19 (0.02–17.20)0.785
TSH, mIU/L (median, range)8.15 (2.0–46.7)2.04 (0.13–9.52)1.88 (0.26–5.39)0.056

Clinical characteristics of EUthyroid study group

All N = 448Women of reproductive age N = 305 (68.0%)Pregnant women N = 142 (32.0%)p-value
Age, years (median, range)30 (19–56)27 (19–49)33 (20–46)< 0.001
Thyroid volume, mL (median, range)7.4 (2.5–30.5)7.3 (2.5–16.6)7.4 (3.3–30.5)0.417
Proportion of all women with nodules (number, %)101 (22.5)60 (19.7)41 (28.9)0.031
Proportion of women with nodules > 5 mm (number, %)63** (14.1)37** (12.1)26** (18.3)0.082
Proportion of women with nodules > 0.5 mL (number, %)9* (2.0)3* (1.0)6* (4.2)0.023
Number of nodules per person with nodules (mean, range)1.5 (1–6)1.3 (1–4)1.8 (1–6)0.036
Dominant nodule volume, mL (median, range)0.09 (0.02–3.83)0.08 (0.02–2.46)0.12 (0.03–3.83)0.084
TSH, mU/L (median, range)1.55 (0.27–116.90)1.61 (0.32–116.90)1.46 (1.48–4.38)< 0.001
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/raon-2026-0001 | Journal eISSN: 1581-3207 | Journal ISSN: 1318-2099
Language: English
Submitted on: Jul 2, 2025
|
Accepted on: Aug 14, 2025
|
Published on: Jan 13, 2026
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 4 issues per year

© 2026 Katja Zaletel, Katja Tuta, Tina Usaj, Katica Bajuk Studen, Natasa Bedernjak Bajuk, Miha Jesenko, Tanja Radevska, Edvard Pirnat, Matej Gregoric, Urska Blaznik, Masa Hribar, Igor Pravst, Simona Gaberscek, published by Association of Radiology and Oncology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

AHEAD OF PRINT