Background This study aimed to investigate the changes of incidence and treatment of choice for hyperthyroidism from 2003 to 2018 and explore the treatment-related complications and concomitant comorbidities in South Korea using data from the National Health Insurance Service.
Methods This is a retrospective observational study. Hyperthyroidism was defined as a case having two or more diagnostic codes of thyrotoxicosis, with antithyroid drug intake for more than 6 months.
Results The average age-standardized incidence of hyperthyroidism from 2003 to 2018 was 42.23 and 105.13 per 100,000 men and women, respectively. In 2003 to 2004, hyperthyroidism was most often diagnosed in patients in their 50s, but in 2017 to 2018, people were most often diagnosed in their 60s. During the entire period, about 93.7% of hyperthyroidism patients were prescribed with antithyroid drugs, and meanwhile, the annual rates of ablation therapy decrease from 7.68% in 2008 to 4.56% in 2018. Antithyroid drug-related adverse events, mainly agranulocytosis and acute hepatitis, as well as complications of hyperthyroidism such as atrial fibrillation or flutter, osteoporosis, and fractures, occurred more often in younger patients.
Conclusion In Korea, hyperthyroidism occurred about 2.5 times more in women than in men, and antithyroid drugs were most preferred as the first-line treatment. Compared to the general population, hyperthyroid patients may have a higher risk of atrial fibrillation or flutter, osteoporosis, and fractures at a younger age.
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
Long-term Effect of Thyrotropin-binding Inhibitor Immunoglobulin on Atrial Fibrillation in Euthyroid Patients Jung-Chi Hsu, Kang-Chih Fan, Ting-Chuan Wang, Shu-Lin Chuang, Ying-Ting Chao, Ting-Tse Lin, Kuan-Chih Huang, Lian-Yu Lin, Lung-Chun Lin Endocrine Practice.2024; 30(6): 537. CrossRef
Treatment Patterns and Preferences for Graves’ Disease in Korea: Insights from a Nationwide Cohort Study Kyeong Jin Kim, Jimi Choi, Soo Myoung Shin, Jung A Kim, Kyoung Jin Kim, Sin Gon Kim Endocrinology and Metabolism.2024; 39(4): 659. CrossRef
Dynamic Risk Model for the Medical Treatment of Graves’ Hyperthyroidism according to Treatment Duration Meihua Jin, Chae A Kim, Min Ji Jeon, Won Bae Kim, Tae Yong Kim, Won Gu Kim Endocrinology and Metabolism.2024; 39(4): 579. CrossRef
Effect of COVID-19 Vaccination on Thyroid Disease in 7 Million Adult and 0.2 Million Adolescent Vaccine Recipients Sungho Bea, Hwa Young Ahn, Jieun Woo, Ju-Young Shin, Sun Wook Cho The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.2024;[Epub] CrossRef
The Current Status of Hyperthyroidism in Korea Hyemi Kwon Endocrinology and Metabolism.2023; 38(4): 392. CrossRef
Is Thyroid Dysfunction Associated with Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms? A Population-Based, Nested Case–Control Study from Korea Hyeree Park, Sun Wook Cho, Sung Ho Lee, Kangmin Kim, Hyun-Seung Kang, Jeong Eun Kim, Aesun Shin, Won-Sang Cho Thyroid®.2023; 33(12): 1483. CrossRef