Psychological impacts of thermal ablation and conventional thyroidectomy in BTN patients: a prospective observation study

Abstract

Abstract Background Thermal ablation and conventional thyroidectomy are effective therapeutic methods for treating benign thyroid nodules (BTNs), but the psychological impacts of these methods in BTN patients are largely unknown.Materials and methods This survey study prospectively enrolled patients who were admitted to our hospital from July 2021 to July 2022. The four validated scales were applied to quantify the psychological distress and sleep quality at five points (the day admitted to the hospital, the day discharged from the hospital, and 1, 3, and 6 months after treatment). Participants who were diagnosed with BTNs and completed the questionnaires were ultimately enrolled and divided into thermal ablation and conventional thyroidectomy groups. A propensity score matching (PSM) cohort was subsequently developed to evaluate longitudinal and cross-sectional changes in psychological-related indicators.Results Among 548 eligible BTN patients, 460 patients completed all the questionnaires throughout the follow-up (response rate: 83.94%), including 368 (80.00%) patients underwent thermal ablation, and 92 (20.00%) patients underwent conventional thyroidectomy. After PSM, a total of 342 patients were enrolled (256 patients underwent thermal ablation and 86 patients underwent conventional thyroidectomy). The psychological-related indicators of patients in the thermal ablation group remained relatively stable during the 6-month follow-up, but patients in the conventional thyroidectomy group may face greater anxiety and sleep quality concerns in the longitudinal assessment. Additionally, in the cross-sectional evaluation, the sleep quality of the thermal ablation group was also found better than that of the conventional thyroidectomy group postoperatively.Conclusions Thermal ablation is superior to conventional thyroidectomy for BTN patients in terms of psychological-related indicators.