Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39400115›Full record

ArticleThe Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism2025

Cancer-related Fear and Worry in Patients With Low-risk Thyroid Cancer: A Longitudinal Cohort Study.

Stephanie S Lee, Alexis G Antunez, Brandy Sinco, Megan C Saucke, Kyle J Bushaw, Sophie Dream, Abbey Fingeret, Masha J Livhits, Aarti Mathur, Alexandria D McDow and 3 more

Abstract readMulticenter Study
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in The Journal of clinical endocrinology and metabolism, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Observational
  3. Harnessing the Power of Physician Word Choice in Thyroid Cancer Treatment Decision-Making.Endocrine practice : official journal of the American College of Endocrinology and the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists · 2025
    Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

13 authors.

Stephanie S LeeDepartment of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.ORCID 0009-0003-3604-5307
Alexis G AntunezDepartment of Surgery, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Brandy SincoDepartment of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.
Megan C SauckeDepartment of Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Kyle J BushawDepartment of Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.
Sophie DreamDepartment of Surgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI 53226, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9738-0796
Abbey FingeretDepartment of Surgery, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE 68182, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-0526-6364
Masha J LivhitsDepartment of Surgery, University of California-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8436-392X
Aarti MathurDepartment of Surgery, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-9693-7433
Alexandria D McDowDepartment of Surgery, Indiana University, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Sanziana RomanDepartment of Surgery, University of California-San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
Corrine I VoilsDepartment of Surgery, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1913-663X
Susan C PittDepartment of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6978-3408

Funding

Impact of Emotions on Treatment Decisions About Low-Risk Thyroid CancerK08CA230204 · NCI · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON · PI PITT, SUSAN C · 2018 to 2023
$1.4M
NCI NIH HHS K08 CA230204NCI NIH HHS K08CA230204
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

contextLittle is known about how patients' emotions impact the choice between hemi- and total thyroidectomy (TT) for low-risk thyroid cancer (LR-TC) and how these emotions change after treatment.

objectiveTo investigate thyroid cancer-specific fear and worry both before and after treatment of LR-TC with hemi- or TT.

methodsThis prospective cohort study enrolled adults with confirmed or likely LR-TC at 15 institutions. Participants completed measures of thyroid cancer-related fear and worry at the time of their treatment decision and 9 months later. Participants were categorized as having low, medium, or high levels of fear and worry in accordance with the literature. Those choosing hemithyroidectomy were compared to those choosing TT.

resultsOf 177 eligible patients, 125 (70.6%) enrolled and 114 completed both surveys (91.2% retention). Overall, 41 (36.0%) participants chose hemithyroidectomy and 73 (64.0%) chose TT. Across all participants, thyroid cancer-related fear and worry both decreased significantly after surgery (fear, 25.8 ± 6.4 to 23.1 ± 7.4; worry, 8.2 ± 2.4 to 5.4 ± 2.1, P < .001). The proportion of participants with high fear decreased from 64.9% to 50.9%, whereas the proportion with high worry decreased from 75.4% to 41.2% (P < .001 for both). At both time points, no differences existed between those choosing hemi- and TT in levels of worry or fear.

conclusionPatients with LR-TC report lower levels of fear and worry 9 months after surgery regardless of the extent of surgery, suggesting that both surgeries provide an emotional benefit to some patients. Thyroid cancer-related fear and worry do not appear to influence patients' decisions to undergo hemi- or TT.

Indexed as

AnxietyFearThyroidectomyThyroid NeoplasmsAdultAgedFemaleHumansLongitudinal StudiesMaleMiddle AgedProspective StudiesSurveys and Questionnairesfearlongitudinal cohortthyroid cancerworry

Identifiers

PMID39400115
PMCPMC13031985

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.