An ecological assessment of global thyroid cancer incidence and mortality according to the human development index in 2020

Introduction: Thyroid cancer is a prevalent form of cancer globally, and its occurrence has been on the rise in recent times. The human development index (HDI) is a comprehensive indicator of social and economic progress, which has been linked to both the occurrence and mortality rates of cancer. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the correlation of thyroid cancer incidence and mortality with the HDI. Materials and Methods: This ecological study was conducted to investigate thyroid cancer incidence and mortality according to the HDI based on extracted data from the GLOBOCAN project in 2020. To illustrate the distribution of thyroid cancer incidence and mortality by HDI in world countries, the scatter plot and variance analysis model were conducted. Results: Results showed that most thyroid cancer deaths and new cases occurred in women. The distribution of thyroid cancer incidence among the HDI classification regions was statistically significant (P<0.001); however, the mortality rate was not significant (P>0.05). Conclusion: We concluded that the incidence of thyroid cancer is influenced by socioeconomic development, with more developed countries having higher incidence rates; however, the mortality rate does not appear to be significantly affected by the HDI.