Factors Affecting Thyroid Condition

Shafaq L., Nepean High School

Ottawa Carleton District School Board

Thyroid Condition

common among teens as well as adults marked either by underactive or overactive thyroid

gland leads to Hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism result of improper functioning of thyroid glands

that fails to produce adequate insulin for the body characterized by low metabolism, weight gain or

weight loss, fatigue, stress, muscular and joint pains.

Hypothesis I hypothesized that following factors have an impact on

thyroid condition in human beings: Age and gender Body mass. Health regions Emotional attitude Physical activity level Regular diet Job hours Stress level

Data Analysis

background search showed that thyroid disorder is 5-7 times common in female population than in males.

female population – range of 17.3 from 0.2% to 17.5% – mean value of 9.8 – median of 9.6 – standard deviation (5.77)

male population – range of 5.3 from 0.2 to 5.5% – mean value of 2.3 – half of the population is above 1.95 and

half is below – standard deviation of 1.74 – Age also seems to play an equally

important role in both males and females.

thyroid Disorder

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

17 22 27 32 37 42 47 52 57 62 67 72 77 82

age group

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

ma

le/f

em

ale

po

pu

lati

on

MALE

FEMALE

Age vs Thyroid Disorder

age vs thyroid disorderfemale

y = 0.2729x - 3.8219

R2 = 0.9754

y = 0.081x - 1.7258

R2 = 0.9471-5.0

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

0 50 100

age

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

ma

le

fem

ale

po

pu

lati

on

MALE

FEMALE

Linear (FEMALE)

Linear (MALE)

Age vs Thyroid Disorder

strong positive linear correlation between age and male/female population having thyroid disorder

cases of thyroid disorder increases with age. males and females might have different factors

that affect there thyroid condition age is one such factor that is strongly correlated

with both the male and female population suffering from thyroid disorder

Region vs Thyroid Condition

urban health regions

0.02.04.06.08.0

10.0

Alogom

a

HAMILT

ON

NIAGRA

OTTAW

A...

Gornw

all

THUNDE...

WELL

IN...

Toro

nto

health regions

po

pu

lati

on

su

ffe

rin

g f

rom

th

yro

id d

ise

ase

male

female

Rural Health Regions

rural health regions

02468

1012

HU

RO

N

LA

MB

TO

N

RE

NF

RE

W

INT

ER

LA

KE

YO

RK

TO

N (

E)

CH

INO

OK

DA

VID

WE

ST

VIE

W

MIS

TA

HIA

health regions

po

pu

lati

on

su

ffe

rig

fro

m

thyr

oid

dis

ea

se

MALE

female

Body Mass Index

BMI vs thyroidy = 0.1421x + 0.6483

R2 = 0.7085

0.0

2.0

4.0

6.0

8.0

10.0

0 10 20 30 40 50

BMI

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on

su

ffe

rin

g f

rom

th

yro

id

yes

Linear (yes)

Body Mass Index

Mean population 4.4Median 4.0St deviation 1.698678range 7IQR(population) 2.1Q1(population) 3.3Q3(population) 5.4

Job Hours vs Thyroid

job hours vs thyroid

0.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.08.0

36 39 42 45 48 51 54 57 61 64 67 73

job hours

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on

su

ffe

rin

g f

rom

th

yro

id

yes

Job Hours vs Thyroid

standard deviation is 1.5 which shows percentage of population suffering from thyroid clusters around the mean in the range of 7.3

The range of job hours is 3.9 with the mean value of 54.2

job hours do not have a strong impact on thyroid condition

increase in the job hours does not reflect an increase in the percentage of population suffering from thyroid disorder

Stress Level vs Thyroid

stess level vs thyroidy = 0.1192x + 1.1326

R2 = 0.7325

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

0 10 20 30 40

stress scale

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on

su

ffe

rin

g f

rom

th

yro

id

yes

Linear (yes)

Stress Level vs Thyroid The graph shows that higher the stress level the

greater the percentage of population suffering from thyroid will be greater

stress have an impact in worsening thyroid condition relationship is understandable as higher stress level

can cause trouble in the secretion of hormones and in the functioning of the body glands.

The average stress level is 20.6 with the median value of 20.5 in the range of 31

Diet vs Thyroid

diet

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

4.7

4.8

4.9

5.0

often sometimes never

people who did not eat the desired quality of food

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on

yes

Diet vs Thyroid The graph shows a big difference between

people who have thyroid condition and their regular diet.

People who often did not eat the desired quality of food have the highest percentage of thyroid disorder.

This is understandable as these people are most likely to lack sufficient nutrition needed for the proper functioning of the body

Diet vs Thyroid

DIET VS THYROID

0.010.020.030.040.050.060.070.080.090.0

100.0

AGE

PE

RC

EN

TA

GE

OF

PO

PU

LA

TIO

N

often

sometimes

never

Diet vs Thyroid

DIETy = -0.0751x + 7.466

R2 = 0.7373

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

0 50 100

AGE

PE

RC

EN

TA

GE

OF

PO

PU

LA

TIO

N

often

Linear (often)

Diet vs Thyroid People in mature ages have less population who

have thyroid due to the fact that they often did not eat the desired quality of food.

Thus diet seem to have an impact on thyroid condition for those who are in young age.

For the people who are older there might be other factors that play the dominant role in worsening thyroid condition.

Thus poor diet can be considered as one factor why young people have thyroid.

Physical Activity vs Thyroid

physical activit vs thyroid

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

level1 level2 level3 level4

level of activity

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on

yes

Physical Activity vs Thyroid

physical activity vs thyroid

level2y = 0.1962x - 3.0881

R2 = 0.9786

level1y = 0.2062x - 3.4797

R2 = 0.9797

0.02.04.06.08.0

10.012.014.016.0

0 20 40 60 80 100

age group

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

pu

lati

on

w

ho

ha

ve l

ess

act

ivit

y a

nd

th

yro

id d

ise

ase

level1

level 2

Linear (level 2)

Linear (level1)

Physical Activity vs Thyroid The graph shows strong positive linear correlation

between the population suffering from thyroid disease with low physical activity level and age.

The relationship is understandable as with age the level of physical activity is likely to fall and this can result in high percentage of population suffering from thyroid disorder.

However physical activity itself has a negative correlation with the percentage of population suffering from thyroid.

The correlation is negative because increase in the level of physical activity will reduce the percentage of thyroid disorder cases.

Emotional Behaviour vs Thyroid

emotional behaviour vs thyroidy = 0.6698x + 3.8653

R2 = 0.9506

0.01.02.03.04.05.06.07.08.0

0 2 4 6

level of sadness

pe

rce

nta

ge

of

po

ula

tio

n

suff

eri

ng

fro

m t

hyr

oid

yes

Linear (yes)

Emotional Behaviour vs Thyroid

The emotional behavior of a person is divided into five levels of sadness. Level 5 being the highest level of sadness has the highest percentage of thyroid disease.

Thus from the graph conclusion can be made that the risk of thyroid disease increases with the level of sadness.

The relationship between emotional behavior and thyroid shows strong positive linear correlation with the correlation coefficient of coefficient of 0.9506.

Emotional Behaviour vs Thyroid females are at a high risk of thyroid disorder than males thyroid condition has strong positive correlation with age, BMI and

stress level and emotional behavior Increase in age, stress or BMI will result in an increase in the

percentage of population suffering from thyroid disorder. Emotional behavior of a person indicates how the person feels for

his life. People who have thyroid disorder tend to be more dissatisfied with

life insufficient diet and physical activity have negative correlation with

thyroid condition. Physical activity is one of the major indication of health