Table 1 Clinical and demographic patient characteristics by cases of newly diagnosed papillary thyroid cancer (PTC) and healthy controls without any thyroid disorders

Age (y), mean (SD)

48.84 (17.76)

51.19 (14.93)

< 0.001

Male sex, %

3678 (53.2)

487 (24.5)

< 0.001

Race, %

< 0.001

 White

4262 (61.6)

1496 (75.2)

 African American

1935 (28.0)

189 (9.5)

 Hispanic /Latino ethnicity

250 (3.6)

139 (7.0)

 Other

472 (6.8)

166 (8.3)

Cumulative average PM_2.5 (μg/m³), mean (SD)

 12-months

10.09 (1.88)

10.00 (1.77)

0.05

 24-months

10.34 (1.92)

10.31 (1.89)

0.51

 36-months

10.59 (2.00)

10.61 (1.97)

0.74

Body mass index (kg/m²), %

< 0.001

  < 18.5

234 (3.4)

22 (1.1)

 18.5 to < 25

2460 (35.6)

664 (33.4)

 25 to < 30

2190 (31.7)

672 (33.8)

  ≥ 30

2035 (29.4)

632 (31.8)

Smoking status, %

< 0.001

 Never smoker

4042 (58.4)

1414 (71.1)

 Current smoker

883 (12.8)

104 (5.2)

 Former smoker

1994 (28.8)

472 (23.7)

Current alcohol consumption

2904 (42.0)

699 (35.1)

< 0.001

Median annual household income (US $)^a, %

< 0.001

  < 50,000

1592 (23.0)

194 (9.7)

 50,000 to < 100,000

3992 (57.7)

1098 (55.2)

  ≥ 100,000

1335 (19.3)

698 (35.1)

Comorbidities (%)

 Hypertension

1995 (28.8)

310 (15.6)

< 0.001

 Diabetes mellitus

668 (9.7)

108 (5.4)

< 0.001

 COPD

190 (2.7)

12 (0.6)

< 0.001

 Asthma

795 (11.5)

76 (3.8)

< 0.001

 Nasal Polyps

155 (2.2)

0 (0.0)

< 0.001

 Environmental allergy

178 (2.6)

16 (0.8)

< 0.001