Iodine status of women from selected rural areas of Sidama Zone, Southern Ethiopia

Abstract

Iodine status of a group of women from rural Ethiopia was evaluated. After ethical clearance from the zonal, regional and national levels, 202 nonpregnant volunteers gave informed consent to participate in this cross sectional study. Mean (SD) age was 30.8 (7.9) y. Mean height was 157.3 (6.0) cm and mid upper arm circumference (MUAC) was 24.8 (2.5) cm. Body mass index (BMI) was < 18.5 for 24.8% of the women. BMI was 18.5 to <25 for 73.3% and was ≥ 25 for only 2.0% of women. Thyroid gland enlargement was assessed using palpation and casual urine samples were collected to measure urinary iodine excretion (UIE). UIE was analyzed using the Sandel‐Kolthoff reaction. Median UIE was 37.2 ug/L. Participants with UIE <20 ug/L were 22.8% and were classified as severely iodine deficient; 46.5% had UIE between 20 to <50 ug/L or moderate iodine deficiency, and 27.2 % had UIE in the mild deficiency range of 50 to <100 ug/L. Only 3.5% of the women had UIE ≥ 100 μg/L. The total visible goiter rate was 1.5% and 14.4% of the women had palpable goiter making a total goiter rate of 15.9%. The findings of the present study revealed that current iodine status of the population is a significant public health problem. Hence, there is a need to supply iodized salt in order to achieve the goal of elimination of iodine deficiency disorders in the community. [Supported by NIH Grant R01HD053053 (NICHD & Fogarty International Center)]