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Disparities in Thyroid Screening and Medication Use in Quebec, Canada

Background: No studies have examined the frequency of thyroid screening in the Canadian population, and whether thyroid screening and medication use vary by sex, race, income, and preexisting health conditions. Methods: Using data from the 2011, 2012 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey, w...

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Autor principal: Stoll, Kathrin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2019
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6643201/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31338485
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/heq.2018.0051
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author Stoll, Kathrin
author_facet Stoll, Kathrin
author_sort Stoll, Kathrin
collection PubMed
description Background: No studies have examined the frequency of thyroid screening in the Canadian population, and whether thyroid screening and medication use vary by sex, race, income, and preexisting health conditions. Methods: Using data from the 2011, 2012 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey, we report rates of thyroid screening among Quebec residents ≥35 (n=7024) and rates of thyroid medication use among Quebec residents ≥35 (n=16,081). We examine variations in medication use and screening by sex, age, race, immigration status, access to a regular doctor, and health conditions that have been linked to thyroid disease. Results: Of the Quebec residents ≥35, 10.3% reported taking thyroid medication and 0.4% reported that the last blood test a physician ordered was to check for a new thyroid condition. Canadian-born residents and those who identified as White reported higher medication use and screening rates, compared to immigrants and those who identified as visible minorities. Racial disparities were especially pronounced, with White Quebec residents reporting three times greater odds of thyroid screening than visible minorities. The strongest predictors of both thyroid medication use and screening were access to a regular doctor. Despite women being eight times more likely to suffer from thyroid disease, women were not significantly more likely to be screened, compared to men (odds ratio=1.38, 95% confidence interval: 0.74–2.60). Discussion: Strategies are needed to decrease disparities in thyroid screening and medication use. Interventions that target health systems (e.g., increasing physician supply), providers (continuing professional education modules about thyroid disease for family physicians), and recipients of care (multilanguage public awareness campaigns and posters at walk-in clinics that describe common symptoms of different thyroid disorders) should be implemented and tested.
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spelling pubmed-66432012019-07-23 Disparities in Thyroid Screening and Medication Use in Quebec, Canada Stoll, Kathrin Health Equity Original Article Background: No studies have examined the frequency of thyroid screening in the Canadian population, and whether thyroid screening and medication use vary by sex, race, income, and preexisting health conditions. Methods: Using data from the 2011, 2012 cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey, we report rates of thyroid screening among Quebec residents ≥35 (n=7024) and rates of thyroid medication use among Quebec residents ≥35 (n=16,081). We examine variations in medication use and screening by sex, age, race, immigration status, access to a regular doctor, and health conditions that have been linked to thyroid disease. Results: Of the Quebec residents ≥35, 10.3% reported taking thyroid medication and 0.4% reported that the last blood test a physician ordered was to check for a new thyroid condition. Canadian-born residents and those who identified as White reported higher medication use and screening rates, compared to immigrants and those who identified as visible minorities. Racial disparities were especially pronounced, with White Quebec residents reporting three times greater odds of thyroid screening than visible minorities. The strongest predictors of both thyroid medication use and screening were access to a regular doctor. Despite women being eight times more likely to suffer from thyroid disease, women were not significantly more likely to be screened, compared to men (odds ratio=1.38, 95% confidence interval: 0.74–2.60). Discussion: Strategies are needed to decrease disparities in thyroid screening and medication use. Interventions that target health systems (e.g., increasing physician supply), providers (continuing professional education modules about thyroid disease for family physicians), and recipients of care (multilanguage public awareness campaigns and posters at walk-in clinics that describe common symptoms of different thyroid disorders) should be implemented and tested. Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers 2019-07-11 /pmc/articles/PMC6643201/ /pubmed/31338485 http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/heq.2018.0051 Text en © Kathrin Stoll 2019; Published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. This Open Access article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Original Article
Stoll, Kathrin
Disparities in Thyroid Screening and Medication Use in Quebec, Canada
title Disparities in Thyroid Screening and Medication Use in Quebec, Canada
title_full Disparities in Thyroid Screening and Medication Use in Quebec, Canada
title_fullStr Disparities in Thyroid Screening and Medication Use in Quebec, Canada
title_full_unstemmed Disparities in Thyroid Screening and Medication Use in Quebec, Canada
title_short Disparities in Thyroid Screening and Medication Use in Quebec, Canada
title_sort disparities in thyroid screening and medication use in quebec, canada
topic Original Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6643201/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31338485
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/heq.2018.0051
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