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.

Context. Pakistan is considered severely iodine deficient on the basis of available data. However this data is collected in patches with severe iodine deficiency. Objectives. The current study was conducted to know the prevalence of goiter and iodine nutrition status in the district Karak. Design. Thirty clusters approach was adopted for the study. Subjects and Methods. From each cluster, 40 school age children (20 boys and 20 girls) of age 6-12 years were randomly selected. A total of 1194 children (boys= 600 and girls= 594) were recruited for the study. Goiter was measured using palpation, urinary iodine by wet digestion and salt iodine content was measured using rapid spot testing kit. Results. Our results show the total goiter rate to be 14.2% (n=169) in the district. The goiter in girls was 15.8% (n=94) whereas in boys the prevalence was 12.5% (n=75). The median urinary concentration in girls was 65.6±63.68μg/L (IQR= 42.2-83.85) whereas in boys it was 56.8±40.98μg/L (IQR= 36.5-85.8). Median urinary iodine concentration was 62.3±53.28μg/L (IQR= 39.9-85.0) in the district. Iodine level ≥15 ppm was found only in 27.5% household salt samples and 72.3% salt samples had <15 ppm iodine.. Conclusions. Our results show that district Karak is mildly iodine deficient with moderate prevalence of goiter. Immediate prophylactic measures should be taken for compulsory use of iodized salt.