Role of medical resource level in iodine deficiency disorder

Relationship between iodine knowledge and dietary iodine intake in pregnant and lactating women: a cross-sectional study

OBJECTIVE

This study assessed the iodine knowledge of pregnant and lactating women and the relationship to dietary iodine intake and iodine status. The factors influencing iodine intake were analysed.

DESIGN

Basic information and iodine knowledge were collected via a questionnaire. A FFQ assessed dietary iodine intake. The urinary iodine concentration (UIC) was measured using the arsenic-cerium catalytic spectrophotometric determination of iodine in urine (WS/T 107 -2016).

SETTING

A cross-sectional study involving pregnant and lactating women in Xinjiang, China was conducted.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 1181 pregnant women and 504 lactating women were enrolled in the study.

RESULTS

The median UIC for pregnant and lactating women was 179·27 and 192·81 µg/l, respectively, and the dietary iodine intake was 407·16 and 356·89 µg/d, respectively. Of the pregnant and lactating women, 73·4 % and 82·5 % had medium iodine knowledge, respectively. In pregnant women, iodine knowledge and dietary iodine intake were positively correlated. High iodine knowledge and iodine education were shown to be protective factors for excessive iodine intake in pregnant women.

CONCLUSION

This study demonstrated that the iodine nutritional status of women in Xinjiang was appropriate, and iodine knowledge was at a medium level, but there was confusion about iodine nutrition. Public education is needed to improve iodine knowledge and active iodine supplementation awareness among these populations of women.

Interpretation of China's 2017 health expenditure: a latent profile analysis of panel data

OBJECTIVE

To explore the latent structure of health financing and the institutional distribution of health expenditure (focused on hospital expenditure) in provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities of mainland China, and to examine how these profiles may be related to their externalising and internalising characteristics.

STUDY DESIGN

The study used panel data harvested from the China National Health Accounts Report 2018.

METHODS

Mainland China's provincial data on health expenditure in 2017 was studied. A latent profile analysis was conducted to identify health financing and hospital health expenditure profiles in China. Additionally, rank-sum tests were used to understand the difference of socioeconomic indicators between subgroups.

RESULTS

A best-fitting three-profile solution for per capita health financing was identified, with government health expenditure (χ²=10.137, p=0.006) and social health expenditure (χ²=6.899, p=0.032) varying significantly by profiles. Health expenditure in hospitals was subject to a two-profile solution with health expenditure flow to urban hospitals, county hospitals and community health service centres having significant differences between the two profiles (p<0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

Per capita health financing and health expenditure spent in hospitals have discrepant socioeconomic characteristics in different profiles, which may be attributed to macroeconomic factors and government policies. The study provided new and explicit ideas for health financing and health policy regulation in China.

Adequate Iodine Intake among Young Adults in Jiangsu Province, China Despite a Medium Iodine Knowledge Score

Lack of iodine knowledge might be a risk factor for inadequate iodine intake in populations. Therefore, we aimed to determine the relationship between iodine knowledge and intake in young Chinese adults. A cross-sectional study was conducted in Suzhou, China. Iodine intake was assessed using a validated 33-item iodine-specific Chinese food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) and iodine knowledge was determined using a Chinese iodine knowledge questionnaire. A total of 150 participants (mean age 20.3 years) completed the study. The median iodine intake plus iodized salt was 260 μg/d, indicating iodine sufficiency (>150 µg/d). The median iodine knowledge score was 16/24, suggesting a medium level of knowledge. The majority of participants correctly recognized fish and seafood (95%) and iodized salt (83%) as the most important dietary iodine sources. After adjusting for age and sex, studying in the science cluster and having received iodine education were the predictors of having a higher iodine knowledge score, with adjusted odd ratios (OR) of 4.33 (1.49, 12.61) and 2.73 (1.21, 6.14), respectively. In conclusion, young Chinese adults had an adequate iodine intake despite a medium iodine knowledge score. This study provides support that iodine fortification in China has been successful, but further research is required to more fully substantiate this finding.