Pre-diagnostic Vitamin D and Thyroid Cancer Risk in a Propensity-Matched Cohort

571,669 matched patient pairs from the TriNetX network were analyzed over a median follow-up of 6.8 years. This retrospective cohort study by Kuo-Chuan Hung, last updated in 2026, found a dose-dependent association between pre-diagnostic vitamin D deficiency and increased thyroid cancer risk. The analysis used propensity score matching on demographics, comorbidities, and laboratory values to control for confounding.

Use Cases

• Assessing the dose-response relationship between vitamin D levels and cancer risk based on hazard ratios reported in the study
• Evaluating methods for controlling detection bias in observational studies based on the use of positive and negative control outcomes
• Studying the application of propensity score matching in large-scale electronic health record networks like TriNetX
• Investigating potential confounding factors in thyroid cancer etiology based on the matched variables including comorbidities and supplementation

Strengths

• Large-scale analysis of 571,669 propensity-matched patient pairs
• Longitudinal design with a median follow-up period of 6.8 years
• Included sensitivity analyses, subgroup analyses, and control outcomes to assess bias and validity
• Used a landmark approach with a 180-day lag to establish temporality between exposure and outcome

Limitations

• Dataset is a 19.6 KB DOCX file, suggesting it contains summary results rather than the raw patient-level data
• Row count and column-level documentation for the underlying data are unknown
• The data reflects the coverage and potential biases inherent to the TriNetX Global Collaborative Network

Provenance

Source

TriNetX Global Collaborative Network

Collection Method

Retrospective propensity score–matched cohort study using electronic health records

Time Range

Serum measurements taken between 2010 and 2023, with outcomes followed for up to 10 years

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-21 04:11:04