ACTA ENDOCRINOLOGICA (BUC)

Context. Pakistan is considered to be severely iodine deficient with 70% population at risk of iodine deficiency. Objectives. This study was designed to determine the prevalence of goiter and status of iodine in district Charsadda, Pakistan. Design. The study was carried out using the 30 cluster approach. Subject and Methods. From each cluster, 40 school going children were randomly selected with equal number of male and female children making a total of 1210. A total of 202 pregnant women were sampled casually from different health units and hospitals of the districts. For goiter determination palpation, for urinary iodine wet digestion and for salt iodine rapid spot test kits were used. Results. The prevalence of goiter in school children was 10.9% (10.2% in boys and 11.5% in girls). In pregnant women the goiter prevalence was found to be 20.7% (16.6% in 1st trimester, 19% in 2nd trimester and 25% in 3rd trimester). The median urinary iodine concentration of school children and pregnant women was 89.9μg/L and 89.8μg/L respectively. Estimation of iodine content in salt illustrates that 70% households were consuming non-iodized salt. Conclusions. This study suggests mild iodine deficiency in the district Charsadda of Pakistan. Regular iodine prophylaxis is needed in the area.