Abstract: Objective:To explore the epidemiological and clinical characteristics of thyroid nodules(TN).Methods:The clinical data and postoperative pathology results in 3 958 TN cases were retrospectively analyzed.Results:The number of TN cases gradually increased from 2008 to 2013,which was 296,404,542,709,921 and 1 089 cases,respectively,the ratio of male to female was about 1:5,1 579 cases(39.9%) located the right side,3 185 cases(80.5%) were benign nodules and 773 cases(19.5%) were malignant nodules,the age ranged from 41 to 50 years old.Among the thyroid carcinoma(TC),the papillary carcinoma in 503 cases(12.7%),microcarcinoma in 126 cases(3.2%),follicular carcinoma in 11 cases(0.3%),anaplastic carcinoma in 11 cases(0.3%),mixed carcinoma in 11 cases(0.3%) and medullary carcinoma in 36 cases(0.9%) were found.Logistic regression analysis showed that the female,elder(30 to 60 years old),short disease course(<1 month),occupation,nodule size(≤ 2 cm) and nodal calcification were the risk factors of TC.Conclusions:The prevalence of TN increases year by year,the 41 to 50 years old female is high-risk group of TC.The age,course of disease,nodule size,calcification and occupation are related to the TC.