Background: Thyroid goiter is endemic in certain world areas, especially with low Iodine supply. Genetic predisposition with the combination of various environmental factors have been suggested as risk factors for thyroid goiter. The exact mechanism causing thyroid goiter is still not clear. Israel has a small geographic area with a diverse non mixed ethnic minorities. All populations share similar environmental conditions. The possibility of an ethnic predisposition for thyroid goiter development in these ethnic populations is yet to be studied. 

Methods: All adult patient with thyroid goiter presented to the head and neck clinic between 2019-2021 were included in the study. Patient files were reviewed retrospectively for demographic data and goiter related symptoms. The overall incidence rate of goiter for each group was calculated.

Results: A total of 392 patients were included in the study, 235 were Jewish, 123 Arab Druze and 34 Arab Muslims. The overall incidence of thyroid goiter in the Arab Druze group was 6.92% (CI 5.75 - 8.25) compared to 4.11% in the Jewish (CI 3.60 - 4.67) group and 7.21% (CI 4.99 - 10.08) in the Muslim group (34 patients only). The observed number of patients having goiter in comparison with the expected value of Goiter and the Standardized Incidence Ratio (SIR) for the Arab Druze population was 1.41 (1.18 - 1.67) in comparison to the Jewish population -0.84 (0.73 - 0.95).

Conclusions: Thyroid goiter prevalence in the Arab Druze population was higher compared to the Jewish population with similar environmental conditions. Further studies of possible ethnic genetic influences on goiter development are warranted. A larger study of goiter prevalence in the Arab Muslims group should be considered.