What Are Thyroidectomy Patients Really Concerned About?

Objective. To better appreciate perioperative concerns affecting patients considering thyroidectomy and to understand how they may vary according to patient characteristics. Study Design. Cross-sectional analysis. Setting. Tertiary referral center. Subjects and Methods. The authors recruited patients scheduled for thyroid surgery at the McGill University Thyroid Cancer Center. A total of 148 patients completed the 18-item Western Surgical Concern Inventory–Thyroid (WSCI-T) questionnaire. Psychometrics of the WSCI-T were assessed through a principal component analysis with varimax rotation and reliability analyses. Independent-samples t tests and 2-tailed Pearson correlations were ran, identifying areas of elevated concerns and their relationship to gender, age, and surgical procedure (total vs hemithyroidectomy). Results. The principal component analysis revealed the presence of 3 domains of presurgical concerns on the WSCI-T: Surgery-Related Concerns, Psychosocial Concerns, and Daily-Living Concerns. Reliability coefficients for the WSCI-T Total and subscales were satisfactory. Responses on the WSCI-T indicated on average a moderate overall level of concerns before thyroidectomy. Surgery-Related Concerns was the highest domain of concerns, followed by Daily-Living and Psychosocial Concerns, respectively. Patients were mainly worried about the nodule being cancerous, experiencing a change in voice, and surgical complications. Areas of minor concern included being judged or treated differently, becoming depressed, and feeling embarrassed. Women had higher overall levels of concern than men did. Although there were no significant differences in overall levels of concern according to age and surgical procedure, differences were noted at a subscale and item level. Conclusion. This study establishes a mean that will permit adequate physician counseling and a better management of patients’ perioperative worries.