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Sleep quality, stress and thyroid cancer: a case–control study

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Abstract

Background

Stress and sleep disturbance have been found to be associated with numerous adverse health outcomes, including cancer. Our study aimed to measure the association between quality of sleep, short-temperedness, and stress in life with the risk of thyroid cancer.

Methods

The present study is conducted on 361 newly diagnosed TC patients and 347 sex–age frequency matched controls. Control and case participants were registered with the same health centers. We used multiple logistic regression to investigate the association between TC risk and the interested factors.

Results

Based on the results of the multivariate analysis, stress (ORalways stressful/often calm = 3.07, 95% CI 1.42–6.63) and short-temperedness (ORnervous/calm = 2.00, 95% CI 1.28–3.11) were directly associated with the risk of TC. On the other hand having a quality sleep (ORsometimes/never = 0.36, 95% CI 0.16–0.79) and quality sleep (ORoften/no = 0.45, 95% CI 0.21–0.96, P = 0.041) seems to be a protective factor.

Conclusions

Some community-based interventions, e.g., lowering stress levels and improving sleep quality, may help in preventing different types of cancer, including TC. We suggest further evaluation of these important findings in the prevention of TC cancer.

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Availability of data and materials

The data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available due to its being the intellectual property of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences but is available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

The present study is a part of the M.Sc. thesis (factors associated with thyroid cancer in K&B province) written by Mohammad Parad under the supervision of professor Mohammad Fararouei.

Funding

This study was financially supported by Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran. (Grant number: 2668).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Student Research Committee, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    S. Afrashteh & M. T. Parad

  2. HIV/AIDs Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    M. Fararouei

  3. Non-communicable Diseases Research Center, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran

    A. Mirahmadizadeh

Authors
  1. S. Afrashteh
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  2. M. Fararouei
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  3. M. T. Parad
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  4. A. Mirahmadizadeh
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Contributions

MP was responsible data analysis and contributed to the data collection; AM was responsible for confirmation and interpretation of Medical files and manuscripts preparation; MF gave the idea of research, responsible for coordination and management of the project, data analysis and critically reviewed the manuscript, SA was responsible for data analysis and preparation of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to M. Fararouei.

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Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Ethics approval

The study protocol was reviewed and approved by ethical commttee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences.

Consent to participate

Because of the illiteracy of a considerable number of the patients, verbal consent was obtained from the participants.

Consent for publication

Written informed consent for publication was obtained from each participant.

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Novelty and impact: This is the first study on the factors affecting the risk of TC include stress, quality of sleep and short-temperedness in general population of a province with a very high incidence in Iran We have shown that stress and short-temperedness can increase the risk of developing TC. On the other hand having a quality sleep seems to be a protective factor.

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Afrashteh, S., Fararouei, M., Parad, M.T. et al. Sleep quality, stress and thyroid cancer: a case–control study. J Endocrinol Invest 45, 1219–1226 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-022-01751-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40618-022-01751-4

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