Omar MS, El-Sayed Desouky D. Environmental, urinary iodine status and prevalence of goitre among schoolchildren in a high altitude area of Saudi Arabia.
Pak J Med Sci 2015;
31:414-9. [PMID:
26101502 PMCID:
PMC4476353 DOI:
10.12669/pjms.312.6637]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/24/2014] [Revised: 10/15/2014] [Accepted: 02/08/2015] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
Abstract
Objective:
This study aimed to assess the iodine deficiency, prevalence of goitre among schoolchildren and measuring environmental iodine in Taif city, Saudi Arabia.
Methods:
A cross-sectional multistage cluster-sampling methodology was done on 1887 schoolchildren. Their urinary iodine concentration (UIC) and goitre prevalence was assessed. Blood level of triiodothyronin, thyroxine and thyroid-stimulating-hormone was carried out for students with normal, mild; moderate and sever iodine deficiency. The iodine content of salt, water and soil was also assessed.
Results:
Goitre prevalence was 7.4% and about 71% of the participants had UIC less than 100μg/L. An inverse relationship between median UIC and the percent prevalence of goitre was found. The mean serum T3, T4 and TSH were 1.05ng/dL, 6.81µg/dL, and 5.69mIU/L, respectively. A significant positive correlation was found between the mean value of urinary iodine and the mean value of both T3 and T4. While a significant negative correlation between the mean value of urinary iodine and the mean value of TSH was also noted.
Conclusions:
The results revealed the presence of a potential public health problem of iodine deficiency among school going children in high altitude areas of Saudi Arabia. There is a need to monitor and evaluate the salt iodization process, and distribute adequately iodized salt in the affected areas.
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