ArticleScientific reports2024
Trends in the use of thyroid diagnostics and treatments between 2008 and 2019 in Germany.
Article in Scientific reports, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 5 papers.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH): does it live up to its promises in the andrology laboratory?Basic and clinical andrology · 2026Article
- Thyroid Hormone Treatment and Breast Cancer Risk in Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Observational Studies.Metabolites · 2026Review
- Use of Carbimazole, Methimazole and Propylthiouracil in Women of Childbearing Age and Exposed Pregnancies in Germany: A Population-Based Study.Drugs - real world outcomes · 2026Article
- Long-term forecasting and evaluation of medicine consumption for the ATC class H with a focus on thyroid hormones in OECD countries using ARIMA models.Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2025Article
- A Scoping Review on the Prevalence of Hashimoto's Thyroiditis and the Possible Associated Factors.Medical sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Following implementation of a national prevention program against iodine deficiency-related disorders in 1993 in Germany, the prevalence of thyroid disorders declined, but aggregated drug dispensation data suggested a recent increase in thyroid hormone use. We aimed to systematically investigate trends in the use of thyroid diagnostic and treatment measures between 2008 and 2019 in Germany. Using the GePaRD database (claims data from ~ 20% of the German population), we determined the annual age-specific and age-standardized prevalence of the use of thyroid diagnostics (thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) measurement, thyroid ultrasound, scintiscan, biopsy) and treatment (medication, surgery, radioiodine therapy) from 2008 to 2019 stratified by sex. Between 2008 and 2019, the age-standardized prevalence of TSH measurement increased by 44% in males (from 165 to 238 per 1,000 persons) and by 31% in females (from 134 to 176 per 1,000). The prevalence of thyroid ultrasound use showed no clear time trend, while there was a decrease in the prevalence of scintiscan use (males/females: decrease by 42/43%) and biopsy (males/females: decrease by 42/34%). The prevalence of levothyroxine use increased by ~ 31% both in males (from 36 to 47 per 1,000) and females (from 134 to 175 per 1,000), while the prevalence of thionamide use, iodine use, thyroidectomy, and radioiodine therapy decreased. Our study suggests a continued decline in the prevalence of clinically significant thyroid disorders between 2008 and 2019. The substantial increase in the prevalence of TSH measurement and levothyroxine use during this time period might indicate overuse of diagnostics and overtreatment, warranting further investigation.
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