Meta-analysis of the correlation between growth and thyroid volume in children / 中华地方病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To systematically evaluate the relationship between growth and thyroid volume (Tvol).Methods:Chinese and English papers were searched in CNKI, Wanfang Data, VIP Database, PubMed, EMbase, Springerlink, Medline database, articles on the correlation between Tvol and growth in children published from the establishment of these databases to October 2021 were collected. Meta-analysis was conducted with R language 4.0. I2 and Q test were used for heterogeneity test. According to the heterogeneity test results, the fixed effect model or random effect model was selected, and sensitivity analysis was conducted. Egger's method was used to test publication bias. Results:A total of 17 papers were incorporated in this study, including 11 Chinese papers and 6 English papers. The correlation between body surface area (BSA) and Tvol was the strongest[estimated effect value ( COR) = 0.44, 95% confidence interval ( CI) 0.39 - 0.50], followed by weight ( COR = 0.39), height ( COR = 0.37) and age ( COR = 0.29). Sensitivity analysis showed that the estimated effects COR were all within 95% CI of the total effects after deleting any paper, which indicated that the results of Meta-analysis were reliable. Egger's method result showed P > 0.05, indicating that there was no obvious publication bias in this study. Conclusion:Age, height, weight and BSA all have effects on Tvol, among which BSA has the greatest effect.