Prevalence of drugs used for chronic conditions after diagnosis of thyroid cancer: a register-based cohort study

Tor-Arne Hegvik; YanYan Zhou; Katrin Brauckhoff; Kari Furu; Vidar Hjellvik; Tone Bjørge; Anders Engeland

doi:10.1093/ejendo/lvae092

Prevalence of drugs used for chronic conditions after diagnosis of thyroid cancer: a register-based cohort study

Eur J Endocrinol. 2024 Aug 5;191(2):166-174. doi: 10.1093/ejendo/lvae092.

Authors

Tor-Arne Hegvik^{1

2}, YanYan Zhou^{1

3}, Katrin Brauckhoff^{4

5}, Kari Furu^{6

7}, Vidar Hjellvik⁶, Tone Bjørge^{1

8}, Anders Engeland^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Global Public Health and Primary Care, University of Bergen, Bergen 5020, Norway.
² Clinic of Surgery, St. Olav's University Hospital, Trondheim 7006, Norway.
³ Department of Statistics and Biostatistics, Cal State East Bay, Hayward, CA 94542, United States.
⁴ Department of Breast and Endocrine Surgery, Haukeland University Hospital, Bergen 5021, Norway.
⁵ Department of Clinical Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen 5020, Norway.
⁶ Department of Chronic Diseases, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo 0473, Norway.
⁷ Centre for Fertility and Health, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo 0473, Norway.
⁸ Cancer Registry of Norway, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Oslo 0379, Norway.

PMID: 39077806
DOI: 10.1093/ejendo/lvae092

Abstract

Objective: Little is known about thyroid cancer survivors' risk of chronic conditions. We, therefore, investigated the prevalence of drugs used for chronic conditions among thyroid cancer patients using population-wide register data.

Methods: We linked data from the Cancer Registry of Norway to the Norwegian Prescription Database and other databases for a study population of 3.52 million individuals, including 3486 individuals with thyroid cancer diagnosed during 2005-2019. Prevalence ratios (PRs) with 95% CIs of reimbursed prescribed drugs in thyroid cancer patients up to 15 years after thyroid cancer diagnosis were estimated by log-binomial regression, with the cancer-free population as reference.

Results: Individuals (both males and females) with thyroid cancer had higher use of drugs for several chronic conditions in the years after diagnosis; eg, 5 years after thyroid cancer diagnosis, there was elevated use of drugs for hypoparathyroidism (PRmales = 35.4, 95% CI, 25.2-49.7; PRfemales = 42.8, 95% CI, 34.2-53.6), hypertension (PRfemales = 1.20, 95% CI, 1.12-1.28), anxiety and tension (PRmales = 4.01, 95% CI, 1.80-8.92; PRfemales = 2.01, 95% CI, 1.15-3.52), gastric acid disorders (PRmales = 1.52, 95% CI, 1.22-1.91; PRfemales = 1.45, 95% CI, 1.27-1.66), and pain (PRmales = 1.48, 95% CI, 1.11-1.97; PRfemales = 1.24, 95% CI, 1.08-1.42) as compared with the cancer-free population. In addition, males with thyroid cancer had long-term elevated use of drugs for depression (eg, year 10+, PRmales = 1.66, 95% CI, 1.06-2.59). Individuals with thyroid cancer also had higher use of drugs for several conditions prior to the thyroid cancer diagnosis, eg, hypertension, gastric acid disorders, and pain.

Conclusions: Individuals diagnosed with thyroid cancer had elevated long-term use of drugs for several chronic conditions, as compared with the cancer-free population.

Keywords: chronic disease; hypoparathyroidism; hypothyroidism; pharmacoepidemiology; survivorship; thyroid cancer.

MeSH terms

Adult
Aged
Aged, 80 and over
Chronic Disease / epidemiology
Cohort Studies
Female
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Norway / epidemiology
Prevalence
Registries*
Thyroid Neoplasms* / diagnosis
Thyroid Neoplasms* / epidemiology
Young Adult

Abstract

MeSH terms

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