@article{article_1706182, title={Diagnostic adequacy of thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy: a comparative analysis by age and gender}, journal={Journal of Health Sciences and Medicine}, volume={8}, pages={754–758}, year={2025}, DOI={10.32322/jhsm.1706182}, author={Bilgin, Erkan and Bayrak, Ahmet}, keywords={Thyroid nodule, biopsy, fine-needle, age factors, gender factors, diagnostic techniques and procedures, cytological techniques}, abstract={Aims: To evaluate the diagnostic success of thyroid fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) across different age and gender groups, and to investigate the effect of aging and sex-related variables on biopsy adequacy. Methods: This retrospective study included 486 patients who underwent thyroid FNAB between 2022 and 2024. Patients were stratified into two age groups ( <65 and ≥65 years) and analyzed by gender. Diagnostic outcomes were classified as diagnostic (benign, malignant, atypia) or non-diagnostic. Statistical analyses, including Fisher’s exact and chi-square tests, were applied to determine the significance of differences. Results: The overall diagnostic yield was 81.7%. Patients under 65 years had a significantly higher diagnostic success rate (86.4%) compared to those aged 65 and older (65.5%, p <0.01). Among older patients, diagnostic adequacy was notably lower in males (53.1%) than females (70.5%). The distribution of pathological diagnoses also varied: the atypia rate was higher in the ≥65 group (8.33%), whereas malignancy was slightly more prevalent in younger patients. Gender alone did not significantly influence diagnostic outcomes (p>0.05), but advanced age was associated with reduced adequacy, potentially due to structural tissue changes or technical limitations. Conclusion: The diagnostic performance of thyroid FNAB diminishes significantly with age, especially in elderly male patients. Gender does not appear to be an independent determinant. These findings highlight the need for optimized biopsy strategies in older populations to enhance diagnostic yield.}, number={5}, publisher={MediHealth Academy Yayıncılık}