Table 1 Characteristics of included studies in the meta-analysis for thyroid cancer incidence risk among populations residing in proximity to nuclear power plants
Lead author (year) | Study design | Country/ region | Number of facilities | Study period | Exposed population | Unexposed (reference) population | Age group | Sample size (cases) | Effect measure | Exposure measurement | Male/ Female | Relative Risk and 95%Â CI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bazyka (2012) [26] | Ecological | Ukraine | 3 NPPs | 2003—2008 | Observed Communities near NPPs Pivdennoukrainsk, Energodar, Netishyn | Ukraine | n.s | 129,845 (49) | SIR | Area (community) comparison | Total | 1.23 (0.89—1.58) |
Boice (2009) [44] | Ecological | USA | 1 NPP | 1990—2004 | Two counties Armstrong and Westmoreland in Western Pennsylvania | Six comparison counties (Clarion, Clearfield, Somerset, Beaver, Washington, Erie) | n.s | (433) | RR | Area (county) comparison | Total | 0.88 (0.78—0.99) |
(102) | Male | 0.86 (0.68—1.09) | ||||||||||
(331) | Female | 0.88 (0.77—1.01) | ||||||||||
Bunch (2014) [65] | Birth cohort | United Kingdom | 1 NPPs | 1950 and 2006; 1963—2006 | Cumbrian births between 1950 and 2006 | National incidence for 1971—2006 using person-years analysis | 0—57 | 338,119 (89) | SIR | Seascale ward as at 1981 + Allerdale and Copeland county districts excluding Seascale + Remainder of Cumbria | Totala | 0.82 (0.45 – 1.50) |
Demoury (2020) [54] | Ecological | Belgium | 2 NPPs (Doel and Tihage) | 2000—2014 | Observed around buffer | Walloon Region for Tihange and Flemish population for Doel | All ages | n.s (33) | RR | 0—5 kma | Total | 0.81 (0.69 – 0.95) |
n.s (68) | 0—20 kma | 0.82 (0.78 – 0.86) | ||||||||||
Desbiolles (2017) [33] | Ecological | France | 7 NPPs | 1995—2011 | Exposed to 1 NPP site | Municipalities with no NPP or other nuclear installations within 20 km of their town hall |  > 15 | 445,935 (671) | RR | 0 – 20 km | Totala | 0.97 (0.75 – 1.26) |
(186) | Male | 1.12 (0.95—1.32) | ||||||||||
(485) | Female | 0.86 (0.77—0.96) | ||||||||||
Gulis (1998) [64] | Ecological | Slovakia (Trnava) | 1 NPP | 1986–1995 | District of Trnava | European population | n.s | 3456 (1) | SIR |  ≤ 5 km | Female | 1.51 (0.00—3.03) |
112,092 (22) | 0 – 20 kma | 1.05 (0.83 – 1.34) | ||||||||||
75,618 (5) | 10 – 15 km | Male | 1.64 (0.89 – 2.39) | |||||||||
Kim (2018) [47] | Cohort | South Korea | 4 NPPs | 1992—2006 | Residing within 5 km and 0 – 30 km of an NPPs | Residing > 30 km of an NPP |  > 20 | 36,176 (54) | HR |  ≤ 5 km | Total | 3.20 (1.73—5.93) |
n.s (166) | 0—30 kma | 2.91 (1.86- 4.53) | ||||||||||
(10) |  ≤ 5 km | Male | 3.38 (0.92—12.39) | |||||||||
(35) | 0—30 kma | 3.73 (1.49 – 9.28) | ||||||||||
(44) |  ≤ 5 km | Female | 3.15 (1.56—6.34) | |||||||||
(131) | 0—30 kma | 2.69 (1.62 – 4.47) | ||||||||||
Lane (2013) [39] | Ecological | Canada | 3 NPPs | 1990—2008 | Those who lived within 25 km of 3 NPPs in Ontario | Ontario general population | All ages | 1,984,500 (4591) | SIR | 0 – 25 km | Totala | 1.11 (0.87 – 1.43) |
|  | Malea | 1.41 (1.32—1.51) | ||||||||||
Femalea | 1.06 (0.79—1.42) | |||||||||||
Salerno (2016) [63] | Ecological | Italy | 1 NPP | 2002—2010 | Observed in Trino municipality where former NPP was located | Turin City | All ages | ns | SIR | Area (community) comparison | Female | 1.86 (1.06—2.66) |
Wang (2016) [66] | Ecological | Taiwan | 3 NPPs | 1979—2003 | Plant-vicinity (< = 14.2) | Non-plant-vicinity (> 22.8) | n.s | ns | RR |  ≤ 14.2 km | Total | 0.79 (0.12 -5.28) |
Zadnik (2008) [46] | Ecological | Slovenia | 1 NPP and 1 nuclear waste repository site | 1984–2003 (Krško NPP started operations in 1984) | Spodnjeposavska statistical region | Slovenia | n.s | ns | SIR | Area (region) comparison | Female | 0.94 (0.67 – 1.28) |