Crowdfunding Campaigns and Thyroid Surgery: Who, What, Where, and How Much?

Background: Crowdfunding has become a unique response to the challenge of health care expenses, yet it has been rarely studied by the medical community. We looked to describe the scope of crowdfunding in thyroid surgery and analyze the factors that contribute toward a successful campaign.

Methods: In November 2018, active campaigns were retrieved from a popular crowdfunding Web site using search terms thyroidectomy and thyroid surgery and filtered to include only campaigns that originated in the United States.

Results: About 1052 thyroid surgery-related campaigns were analyzed. About 836 (79.5%) involved female patients and 43 (4.1%) pediatric patients. About 792 campaigns (75.3%) referred to thyroid cancer as a primary condition, 163 (15.5%) benign thyroid disease, and 97 (9.2%) other conditions. The average amount raised per campaign was $2514.54 (range, $0-$53,160). About 338 (32.1%) campaigns were self-posted, 317 (30.1%) posted by family, and 397 (37.7%) posted by friends. Median campaign duration was 20 mo, with a median number of 16 donors, 17 hearts, and 136 social media shares. Campaigns related to thyroid cancer raised more funds ($2729.97) than benign ($1669.84) or other ($2175.03) conditions (P < 0.001). Campaigns submitted by friends ($3524.78) received more funding than those by self ($1672.48) or family ($2147.19) (P < 0.001). Campaign duration, donor number, share number, and hearts were also significant predictors of amount raised.

Conclusions: For thyroid surgery-related crowdfunding, campaigns referring to thyroid cancer had the highest amount of funds raised. Campaigns created by friends and other factors related to increased community engagement such as social media shares were also related to increased funds.