An online questionnaire survey on preferred timing for the diagnosis and management of thyroid carcinoma in general population in Korea.
OBJECTIVE
An optimal timing for diagnosis and management of papillary thyroid microcarcinoma (PTMC) has become the subject for much controversy. The aim of the present study is to analyze people's preference in Korea for timing of diagnosis and management of PTMC using an online questionnaire.


METHODS
The questionnaire consists of 3 questions about preference for the diagnosis and management of PTMC and 3 additional questions about respondents' personal information. An online survey was conducted from March 3 to June 3 in 2015 using Google Survey (http://goo.gl/forms/b81yEjqNUA).


RESULTS
A total 2,308 persons (1,246 males, 1,053 females) answered the questionnaire. Respondents' ages varied widely from teenagers to 70-year-olds. If there was a suspicious thyroid nodule from PTMC measuring less than 1 cm in diameter, 95.7% of respondents want to know a cytological diagnosis for it. If a thyroid nodule turned out to be a PTMC, 59.5% of respondents wanted it removed immediately. For surgical management of PTMC, 53.0% of respondents were worried more about recurrences than complications. In subgroup analyses, respondents younger than 40 years old more often want immediate surgery than others: 66.7% vs. 32.7% (P < 0.05). Respondents who underwent thyroid cancer surgery (n = 91) were worried more about recurrences than others: 69.2% vs. 52.4% (P < 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Almost all respondents in the present study wanted diagnosis of suspicious thyroid nodules immediately. However, there were opposing opinions about the preferred timing for surgical treatment and surgical extents. A patient's right to know their disease status and decision on treatments should be emphasized all the more.
Department of Surgery, College of Medicine Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.; Department of Surgery, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Korea.
Jin-Woo
JW
Park
Department of Information & Communication Engineering, College of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
Jae-Soo
JS
Yoo
Department of Information & Communication Engineering, College of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
Jin-Kyung
JK
Yun
Department of Information & Communication Engineering, College of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
Byoung-Hoon
BH
Kim
Department of Information & Communication Engineering, College of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
Yeon-Woo
YW
Noh
Department of Surgery, Chungbuk National University Hospital, Cheongju, Korea.
Dong-Ju
DJ
Kim
Diagnosis; Papillary thyroid microcarcinoma; Surgery; Surveys and questionnaires; Thyroid nodule