Research in Medicine

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Background: Iodine deficiency disorder (IDD) is a worldwide health problem. Parts of Iran, such as Azarbayejan-Gharbi, had been known as endemic areas for goiter. IDD was accepted as a priority health problem in our country and a National IDD Council was formed in 1989. This study was performed to evaluate the National IDD Council program in 2001 among 7-10-year-old children in Azarbayejan-Gharbi province. Materials and methods: In this cross sectional study, 1200 children (M/F ratio=1), aged 7-10 years, were selected and grading of goiter was performed in accordance to the WHO criteria. Urinary samples were obtained from 120 children and urinary iodine was measured using digestion method. Results: Total prevalence of goiter was 7.2% (6.7% in girls and 7.8% in boys). The median urinary iodine was 14.6µg/dl. 83.9% had urinary iodine of more than 10µg/dl, while 2.6% had urinary iodine levels of <5µg/dl. None of the candidates has urinary iodine of less the 2µg/dl. There was no significant difference between sexes and urban or rural areas. Conclusion: Results have revealed that the total prevalence of goiter has significantly decreased among children in Azarbayejan-Gharbi province, meanwhile, urinary iodine concentration of children has reached to WHO approved rate. Thus, Azarbayejan-Gharbi province could be classified among "iodine-deficiency-free" areas in Iran.

Keywords: Goiter, Iodine deficiency disorder, Urinary iodine concentration

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