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TUESDAY, Aug. 25, 2020 (HealthDay News)<\/p>\n
As many as one-third of doctors may be sending patients for a thyroid ultrasound<\/a> for reasons not supported by guidelines, a new study finds.<\/p>\n The use of ultrasound<\/a> to detect thyroid cancer<\/a> has led to a large increase in thyroid cancer<\/a> cases, but many of these cancers<\/a> are low-risk and won’t cause serious harm, the study authors explained.<\/p>\n For the study, the researchers questioned 610 surgeons, endocrinologists and primary care doctors involved in thyroid cancer care<\/a>.<\/p>\n Most doctors said they used ultrasound for reasons that are supported by guidelines, such as a large nodule that can be felt or one seen on another imaging test.<\/p>\n But 33% said they prescribed an ultrasound because the patient wanted it and 28% said an abnormal thyroid function test influenced their decision.<\/p>\n “This study is the first to look at why physicians are using thyroid ultrasound for patients. While often it’s for clinically relevant reasons, a substantial number of physicians are not ordering them for reasons that are clinically supported,” said researcher Dr. Megan Haymart. She’s a professor of internal medicine at Michigan Medicine, in Ann Arbor.<\/p>\n Most doctors (69%) said clinical guidelines influenced their decisions for patients with thyroid nodules<\/a>.<\/p>\n Haymart said this shows that doctors can be influenced. “We can change behavior and help physicians use thyroid ultrasound more appropriately, which will reduce the incidence of low-risk thyroid cancer<\/a>,” she said.<\/p>\n That doctors order thyroid ultrasounds because patients want them suggests more education and discussion is needed, Haymart added.<\/p>\n “There’s so much emphasis in medicine on patient satisfaction. You do want patients to be satisfied, but physicians also have to do what’s medically appropriate,” she said in a University of Michigan news release. “Developing decision aids could help patients understand and decide when thyroid ultrasound is appropriate and when it’s not.”<\/p>\n The report was published online recently in JAMA Surgery<\/i>.<\/p>\n — Steven Reinberg<\/p>\n ![\"MedicalNews\"](\"https:\/\/images.medicinenet.com\/images\/HealthDay\/healthday.png\")
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