The epidemiology of thyroid disease
Abstract
INTRODUCTION: Thyroid disorders are prevalent and their manifestations are determined by the dietary iodine availability. SOURCES OF DATA: Data from screening large population samples from USA and Europe. AREAS OF AGREEMENT: The most common cause of thyroid disorders worldwide is iodine deficiency, leading to goitre formation and hypothyroidism. In iodine-replete areas, most persons with thyroid disorders have autoimmune disease. AREAS OF CONTROVERSY: Definition of thyroid disorders, selection criteria used, influence of age and sex, environmental factors and the different techniques used for assessment of thyroid function. GROWING POINTS: Increasing incidence of well-differentiated thyroid cancer. Environmental iodine influences the epidemiology of non-malignant thyroid disease. AREAS TIMELY FOR DEVELOPING RESEARCH: Iodine supplementation of populations with mild-to-moderate iodine deficiency. An evidence-based strategy for the risk stratification, treatment and follow-up of benign nodular thyroid disease. Is there any benefit in screening adults for thyroid dysfunction?
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
Peyronie's disease patients had a Ledderhose disease prevalence of 2.6%, higher than the 0.001-0.00175% reported in the general population.
“Ledderhose disease (2.6% versus 0.001–0.00175%)”
From Clinical Presentation of Peyronie’s Disease: A Retrospective Study of 564 Cases (2024) · cites this paper as [69]
Peyronie's disease patients had a chronic prostatitis prevalence of 35.6%, higher than the 8.2% reported in the general population.
“including chronic prostatitis (35.6% versus 8.2%)”
From Clinical Presentation of Peyronie’s Disease: A Retrospective Study of 564 Cases (2024) · cites this paper as [69]
Peyronie's disease patients had a hypothyroidism prevalence of 4.7%, higher than the 0.6-1.09% reported in the general population.
“hypothyroidism (4.7% versus 0.6–1.09%)”
From Clinical Presentation of Peyronie’s Disease: A Retrospective Study of 564 Cases (2024) · cites this paper as [69]
Up to 3% of older individuals have a serum TSH concentration below the healthy reference interval for younger people (subclinical hyperthyroidism), and approximately 10% have an elevated serum TSH level (subclinical hypothyroidism).
“However, this topic has taken on increasing significance, given that it has been recognized that up to 3% of older individuals have a serum TSH concentration that is below the healthy reference interval for younger people (subclinical hyperthyroidism), and approximately 10% have an elevated serum TSH level (subclinical hypothyroidism) (4–7).”
From Serum Thyroid Function, Mortality and Disability in Advanced Old Age: The Newcastle 85+ Study (2016) · cites this paper as [4]
Cites
Hollowell, J. G., Staehling, N. W., Flanders, W. D., Hannon, W. H., Gunter, E. W., Spencer, C. A., & Braverman, L. E. (2002) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.87.2.489 · Cited by 4,279 · see citing works
The Colorado Thyroid Disease Prevalence Study
Canaris, G. J., Manowitz, N. R., Mayor, G., & Ridgway, E. C. (2000) · Archives of Internal Medicine · doi:10.1001/archinte.160.4.526 · Cited by 2,824 · see citing works
The Clinical Significance of Subclinical Thyroid Dysfunction
Biondi, B., & Cooper, D. S. (2008) · Endocrine Reviews · doi:10.1210/er.2006-0043 · Cited by 1,418 · see citing works
The Spectrum of Thyroid Disorders in an Iodine-Deficient Community: The Pescopagano Survey
Aghini-Lombardi, F. (1999) · Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.84.2.561 · Cited by 288 · see citing works
Leese, G. P., Flynn, R. V., Jung, R. T., MacDonald, T. M., Murphy, M. J., & Morris, A. D. (2008) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2265.2007.03051.x · Cited by 165 · see citing works
The prevalence of thyroid dysfunction in a population with borderline iodine deficiency
Knudsen, N., Jørgensen, T., Rasmussen, S., Christiansen, E., & Perrild, H. (1999) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1046/j.1365-2265.1999.00816.x · Cited by 153 · see citing works
Vadiveloo, T., Donnan, P. T., Cochrane, L., & Leese, G. P. (2011) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2010-0854 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Schouten, B. J., Brownlie, B. E. W., Frampton, C. M., & Turner, J. G. (2011) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1111/j.1365-2265.2010.03908.x · Cited by 55 · see citing works
Flagged first, then by citations
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Global epidemiology of hyperthyroidism and hypothyroidism
Taylor, P. N., Albrecht, D., Scholz, A., Gutierrez-Buey, G., Lazarus, J. H., Dayan, C. M., & Okosieme, O. E. (2018) · Nature Reviews Endocrinology · doi:10.1038/nrendo.2018.18 · Cited by 1,552 · see citing works
Obesity in autoimmune diseases: Not a passive bystander
Versini, M., Jeandel, P.-Y., Rosenthal, E., & Shoenfeld, Y. (2014) · Autoimmunity Reviews · doi:10.1016/j.autrev.2014.07.001 · Cited by 694 · see citing works
Li, Y., Teng, D., Ba, J., Chen, B., Du, J., He, L., Lai, X., Teng, X., Shi, X., Li, Y., et al. (2020) · Thyroid · doi:10.1089/thy.2019.0067 · Cited by 359 · see citing works
Chaker, L., Razvi, S., Bensenor, I. M., Azizi, F., Pearce, E. N., & Peeters, R. P. (2022) · Nature Reviews Disease Primers · doi:10.1038/s41572-022-00357-7 · Cited by 330 · see citing works
Siegmann, E.-M., Müller, H. H. O., Luecke, C., Philipsen, A., Kornhuber, J., & Grömer, T. W. (2018) · JAMA Psychiatry · doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2018.0190 · Cited by 304 · see citing works
Hypothyroidism: etiology, diagnosis, and management
Almandoz, J. P., & Gharib, H. (2012) · Medical Clinics of North America · doi:10.1016/j.mcna.2012.01.005 · Cited by 216 · see citing works
Okosieme, O., Gilbert, J., Abraham, P., Boelaert, K., Dayan, C., Gurnell, M., Leese, G., McCabe, C., Perros, P., Smith, V., et al. (2016) · Clinical Endocrinology · doi:10.1111/cen.12824 · Cited by 208 · see citing works
Self-citationIs a Normal TSH Synonymous With “Euthyroidism” in Levothyroxine Monotherapy?
Peterson, S. J., McAninch, E. A., & Bianco, A. C. (2016) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2016-2660 · Cited by 182 · see citing works
Moon, S., Kim, M. J., Yu, J. M., Yoo, H. J., & Park, Y. J. (2018) · Thyroid · doi:10.1089/thy.2017.0414 · Cited by 175 · see citing works
Development of a Short Version of the Thyroid-Related Patient-Reported Outcome ThyPRO
Watt, T., Bjorner, J. B., Groenvold, M., Cramon, P., Winther, K. H., Hegedüs, L., Bonnema, S. J., Rasmussen, Å. K., Ware, J. E., & Feldt-Rasmussen, U. (2015) · Thyroid · doi:10.1089/thy.2015.0209 · Cited by 132 · see citing works
Changes in the prevalence of hypothyroidism: the HUNT Study in Norway
Åsvold, B. O., Vatten, L. J., & Bjøro, T. (2013) · European Journal of Endocrinology · doi:10.1530/eje-13-0459 · Cited by 118 · see citing works
Wang, F., Jiang, Y., Zhang, R., Wei, A., Xie, J., & Pang, X. (2025) · Sensors · doi:10.3390/s25010190 · Cited by 119 · see citing works
Whole-genome sequence-based analysis of thyroid function
Taylor, P. N., Porcu, E., Chew, S., Campbell, P. J., Traglia, M., Brown, S. J., Mullin, B. H., Shihab, H. A., Min, J., Walter, K., et al. (2015) · Nature Communications · doi:10.1038/ncomms6681 · Cited by 104 · see citing works
Thyroid Dysfunction and Sleep Disorders
Green, M. E., Bernet, V., & Cheung, J. (2021) · Frontiers in Endocrinology · doi:10.3389/fendo.2021.725829 · Cited by 103 · see citing works
McAninch, E. A., Rajan, K. B., Miller, C. H., & Bianco, A. C. (2018) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2018-01361 · Cited by 94 · see citing works
Serum Thyroid Function, Mortality and Disability in Advanced Old Age: The Newcastle 85+ Study
Pearce, S. H. S., Razvi, S., Yadegarfar, M. E., Martin-Ruiz, C., Kingston, A., Collerton, J., Visser, T. J., Kirkwood, T. B., & Jagger, C. (2016) · The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism · doi:10.1210/jc.2016-1935 · Cited by 91 · see citing works
Thyroxine replacement: a clinical endocrinologist’s viewpoint
Eligar, V, Taylor, P., Okosieme, O., Leese, G., & Dayan, C. (2016) · Annals of Clinical Biochemistry: International Journal of Laboratory Medicine · doi:10.1177/0004563216642255 · Cited by 72 · see citing works
McMillan, M., Rotenberg, K. S., Vora, K., Sterman, A. B., Thevathasan, L., Ryan, M. F., Mehra, M., & Sandulli, W. (2016) · Drugs in R&D · doi:10.1007/s40268-015-0116-6 · Cited by 64 · see citing works
Thyroid diseases increased the risk of type 2 diabetes mellitus: A nation-wide cohort study
Chen, R.-H., Chen, H.-Y., Man, K.-M., Chen, S.-J., Chen, W., Liu, P.-L., Chen, Y.-H., & Chen, W.-C. (2019) · Medicine · doi:10.1097/md.0000000000015631 · Cited by 59 · see citing works
Confirmatory factor analysis of the thyroid-related quality of life questionnaire ThyPRO
Watt, T., Groenvold, M., Deng, N., Gandek, B., Feldt-Rasmussen, U., Rasmussen, Å. K., Hegedüs, L., Bonnema, S. J., & Bjorner, J. B. (2014) · Health and Quality of Life Outcomes · doi:10.1186/s12955-014-0126-z · Cited by 46 · see citing works
Seng Yue, C., Benvenga, S., Scarsi, C., Loprete, L., & Ducharme, M. (2015) · Journal of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences · doi:10.18433/j36p5m · Cited by 41 · see citing works
Trifirò, G., Parrino, F., Sultana, J., Giorgianni, F., Ferrajolo, C., Bianchini, E., Medea, G., Benvenga, S., Cricelli, I., Cricelli, C., et al. (2015) · Clinical Drug Investigation · doi:10.1007/s40261-015-0271-0 · Cited by 40 · see citing works
Pharmacokinetics of L-Triiodothyronine in Patients Undergoing Thyroid Hormone Therapy Withdrawal
Van Tassell, B., Wohlford, G. F., Linderman, J. D., Smith, S., Yavuz, S., Pucino, F., & Celi, F. S. (2019) · Thyroid® · doi:10.1089/thy.2019.0101 · Cited by 31 · see citing works
Mood Disorders in Levothyroxine-Treated Hypothyroid Women
Romero-Gómez, B., Guerrero-Alonso, P., Carmona-Torres, J. M., Notario-Pacheco, B., & Cobo-Cuenca, A. I. (2019) · International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health · doi:10.3390/ijerph16234776 · Cited by 25 · see citing works
Ernst, F. R., Sandulli, W., Elmor, R., Welstead, J., Sterman, A. B., & Lavan, M. (2017) · Drugs in R&D · doi:10.1007/s40268-016-0150-z · Cited by 23 · see citing works
No evidence of increased risk of thyroid dysfunction in well treated people living with HIV
Harsløf, M., Knudsen, A. D., Benfield, T., Nordestgaard, B. G., Feldt-Rasmussen, U., & Nielsen, S. D. (2018) · AIDS · doi:10.1097/qad.0000000000001954 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Levothyroxine sodium pentahydrate tablets – formulation considerations
Kaur, N., & Suryanarayanan, R. (2021) · Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences · doi:10.1016/j.xphs.2021.08.006 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
Yao, Y., Fan, L., Zhang, X., Xiao, Z., Long, Y., & Tian, H. (2013) · Thyroid · doi:10.1089/thy.2011.0493 · Cited by 19 · see citing works
De Grande, L. A. C., Goossens, K., Van Uytfanghe, K., Das, B., MacKenzie, F., Patru, M.-M., & Thienpont, L. M. (2017) · Clinica Chimica Acta · doi:10.1016/j.cca.2016.04.032 · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Di Cerbo, A., Quagliano, N., Napolitano, A., Pezzuto, F., Iannitti, T., & Di Cerbo, A. (2021) · Diagnostics · doi:10.3390/diagnostics11091590 · Cited by 14 · see citing works
Clinical Presentation of Peyronie’s Disease: A Retrospective Study of 564 Cases
Paulis, G., De Giorgio, G., & Paulis, A. (2024) · Diagnostics · doi:10.3390/diagnostics14111125 · Cited by 11 · see citing works
Obeidat, K. A., Saadeh, N. A., As\'ad, A., & Bakkar, S. (2018) · American Journal of Case Reports · doi:10.12659/ajcr.909437 · Cited by 12 · see citing works
Description of thyroid disorders the year before conception: a population-based study.
Tena Vivó, G., Parellada Esquius, N., Cunillera Puértolas, O., Albareda Riera, M., Isidro Albaladejo, M., & Vila Ballester, L. (2023) · Frontiers in Endocrinology · doi:10.3389/fendo.2023.1236505 · Cited by 6 · see citing works
Hamada, Y., Masuda, K., Okubo, M., Nakasa, H., Sekine, Y., & Ishii, I. (2015) · Biological & Pharmaceutical Bulletin · doi:10.1248/bpb.b14-00721 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Padoan, A., Cosma, C., & Plebani, M. (2018) · Journal of Laboratory and Precision Medicine · doi:10.21037/jlpm.2018.10.03 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Romanelli, R. J., Nimbal, V., Dutcher, S. K., Pu, X., & Segal, J. B. (2017) · Annals of Pharmacotherapy · doi:10.1177/1060028017705393 · Cited by 5 · see citing works
Özkanay, H., Arslan, F. D., Köseoğlu, M., & Yıldız, R. (2025) · Biochemia medica · doi:10.11613/bm.2025.010706 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“It is suggested that if healthy adults were screened for thyroid disease, the prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism and subclinical hyperthyroidism could be approximately 10% and 1%, respectively (1).”
- Authors
- Vanderpump, M. P. J.
- Affiliations
- Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Vanderpump, M. P. J.
- Venue
- British Medical Bulletin
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2011-09-01
- Volume
- 99
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 39-51
- ISSN
- 0007-1420 (ISSN-L)
- 1471-8391
- OpenAlex
- W2118978221
- Cited by
- 1,179
- References
- 8
- Citations by year
- 2026: 84 · 2025: 91 · 2024: 99 · 2023: 96 · 2022: 91 · 2021: 100 · 2020: 118 · 2019: 83 · 2018: 79 · 2017: 87 · 2016: 78 · 2015: 79 · 2014: 46 · 2013: 29 · 2012: 10
- FWCI
- 23.06
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- British Medical Bulletin (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Disorders and Treatments
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism › Thyroid Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Surgery › Thyroid and Parathyroid Surgery
- Keywords
- thyroid disease epidemiology, iodine deficiency, goiter, hypothyroidism, autoimmune thyroid disease, differentiated thyroid cancer, iodine supplementation, thyroid dysfunction screening, thyroid function assessment, age and sex differences
- MeSH terms
- Adult, Age Factors, Europe, Female, Health Surveys, Humans, Iodine, Male, Mass Screening, Risk Factors, Sex Factors, Thyroid Diseases, Thyroid Function Tests, Thyroid Gland, Trace Elements, United States, Effect Modifier, Epidemiologic, Incidence, Prevalence, Dietary Supplements
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review
