Objective: To evaluate well-accepted risk factors in determining treatment approach in patients presenting with thyroid nodular disease.
Design: Retrospective analysis for the primary management of thyroid nodular disease.
Setting: Outpatient head and neck clinic in an academic institution (University of Toronto, Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario).
Patients: Individuals presenting with a thyroid nodular disease between 1990 and 2000. Three hundred patients with benign thyroid nodular disease and a comparison group of 300 patients with well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) were randomly selected.