Trends and Regional Variation in Rates of Thyroidectomy in Australia

The rate of change in different thyroid procedures over time in our study and our findings of lower geographical variation compared to studies conducted prior to 2015 suggest that ATA Guidelines may have reduced the contribution of physician-related factors to geographic variability and de-escalated the extent of procedures for patients with low-risk pathology. Geographic variation is, however, multifactorial, and these findings also likely reflect other factors like socioeconomic status and access to healthcare.