Journal List > J Korean Thyroid Assoc > v.6(1) > 1056542

Gi, Sun, and Jae: Incidence & Prevalence of Hyperthyroidism and Preference for Therapeutic Modalities in Korea

Abstract

Background and Objectives

The incidence and prevalence of hyperthyroidism has been reported to be 0.2-0.9/1000 population/year and 5-10/1000 population in foreign countries, respectively. However, there has been no nationwide survey to evaluate them in Korea. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the incidence and prevalence of hyperthyroidism in Korea using medicare claims data provided by the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. Preference for its therapeutic modalities and its change were also analyzed.

Materials and Methods

This study was performed in 308,584 (men 86,460, women 222,124) Korean patients with hyperthyroidism treated from January 2006 to June 2012. Patients with past history of hyperthyroidism were not included.

Results

The incidence of hyperthyroidism was 0.72/1000 population/year (men 0.40, women 1.03), and its prevalence was 3.40/1000 population (men 2.09, women 4.70) in Korea. Its peak prevalence was detected between 45 and 49 years of age. Among 177,487 patients with hyperthyroidism treated from 2007 to 2011, anti-thyroid drugs were prescribed in 97.9%, and radioiodine therapy and surgery were finally performed in 8.2% and 0.9%, respectively. The prescription of propylthiouracil (PTU) has been reduced from 63.3% in 2007 to 42.9% in 2011, but the use of methimazole (MMI) increased from 33.9% in 2007 to 54.8% in 2011. Primary physicians preferred PTU to MMI, but physicians in general hospitals preferred MMI to PTU.

Conclusion

This is the first nationwide report to investigate the incidence and prevalence of hyperthyroidism in Korea.

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Table 1.
Incidence of hyperthyroidism in Korea according to age and gender (2011)
Age Men Women Total
Incidence Number Incidence Number Incidence Number
≤4 0.00 1 0.01 11 0.01 12
5-9 0.01 17 0.05 63 0.03 80
10-14 0.05 83 0.27 408 0.15 491
15-19 0.14 258 0.55 891 0.33 1,149
20-24 0.20 322 0.77 1,108 0.47 1,430
25-29 0.36 654 1.17 2,036 0.76 2,690
30-34 0.53 980 1.42 2,594 0.97 3,574
35-39 0.59 1,220 1.28 2,613 0.94 3,833
40-44 0.64 1,325 1.31 2,699 0.97 4,024
45-49 0.62 1,271 1.42 2,874 1.02 4,145
50-54 0.65 1,226 1.76 3,361 1.21 4,587
55-59 0.65 878 1.63 2,287 1.14 3,165
60-64 0.57 600 1.33 1,496 0.96 2,096
65-69 0.50 418 1.05 1,023 0.80 1,441
70-74 0.34 229 0.89 794 0.65 1,023
75-79 0.29 118 0.68 459 0.53 577
80-84 0.22 40 0.48 197 0.40 237
≥85 0.15 14 0.28 76 0.25 90
Total 0.40 9,654 1.03 24,990 0.72 34,644

Incidence: per 1000 population/year

Table 2.
Annual change of incidence of hyperthyroidism in Korea from 2007 to 2011
2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Men 0.42 0.40 0.40 0.41 0.40
Women 1.12 1.08 1.04 1.06 1.03
Total 0.77 0.74 0.72 0.74 0.72

Incidence: per 1000 population/year

Table 3.
Prevalence of hyperthyroidism In Korea according to age and gender (2011)
Age Men Women Total
Prevalence Number Prevalence Number Prevalence Number
≤4 0.01 7 0.03 28 0.02 35
5-9 0.06 75 0.29 336 0.17 411
10-14 0.31 511 1.47 2,238 0.87 2,749
15-19 0.69 1,251 2.72 4,390 1.64 5,641
20-24 1.18 1,911 4.24 6,070 2.61 7,981
25-29 2.18 3,924 5.61 9,739 3.86 13,663
30-34 3.04 5,670 5.94 10,859 4.47 16,529
35-39 3.27 6,735 5.71 11,650 4.49 18,385
40-44 3.28 6,793 5.69 11,723 4.48 18,516
45-49 3.46 7,071 6.54 13 264 4.99 20,335
50-54 3.08 5,809 6.87 13,118 4.98 18,927
55-59 2.90 3,949 6.81 9,579 4.89 13,528
60-64 2.62 2,774 6.45 7,253 4.59 10,027
65-69 2.28 1,901 6.13 5,997 4.36 7,898
70-74 1.44 969 4.57 4,080 3.22 5,049
75-79 0.98 401 3.14 2,112 2.32 2,513
80-84 0.61 114 1.98 810 1.55 924
≥85 0.31 29 0.87 236 0.72 265
Total 2.09 49,894 4.70 113,482 3.40 163,376

Prevalence: per 1000 population/year

Fig. 1.
Annual change of prescription rate of anti-thyroid drugs from 2007 to 2011. The prescription of propylthiouracil (PTU) has been reduced from 63% in 2007 to 43% in 2011, but the use of methimazole (MMI) increased from 34% in 2007 to 55% in 2011. CAMZ: carbimazole, MMI: methimazole, PTU: propylthiouracil.
jkta-6-56f1.tif
Table 4.
Annual change of actual prescription number of anti-thyroid drugs from 2007 to 2011 according to the hospital size
Hospital Drug 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Total
University PTU 2,377 2,139 1,558 1,088 742 7,904
hospital Methimazole 3,231 3,026 3,803 4,252 4,148 18,460
Carbimazole 593 477 298 354 317 2,039
Total 6,201 5,642 5,659 5,694 5,207 28,403
General PTU 4,936 4,632 3,923 3,431 2,905 19,827
hospital Methimazole 4,053 4,117 4,331 5,208 5,560 23,269
Carbimazole 239 211 133 162 190 935
Total 9,228 8,960 8,387 8,801 8,655 44,031
Hospital PTU 2 353 2,308 2,371 2,230 2,094 11,356
Methimazole 592 670 913 1,118 1,416 4,709
Carbimazole 0 0 0 13 26 39
Total 2,945 2,978 3,284 3,361 3,536 16,104
Private clinic PTU 12,980 12,232 10,923 10,270 8,799 55,204
Methimazole 4,233 4,473 5,057 6,095 7,401 27,259
Carbimazole 182 221 221 254 247 1,125
Total 17,395 16,926 16,201 16,619 16,447 83,588

PTU: propylthiouracil

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