Congenital Hypothyroidism in Yazd: Is It Really Prevalent?

Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is the most frequent type of endocrine disorders which presents at birth. It plays a major role in developing the most common preventable type of mental retardation around the world. In this study, we aimed to investigate CH incidence and its predictive factors among newborns in Yazd province. This cohort study was conducted in 38 health centers of 10 cities in Yazd province which is located in the center of Iran, from March 2008 to February 2015. All neonates, as the audiences of this program, were evaluated using heel prick or Guthrie test according to the national protocol of CH screening. During 7 years of screening for CH from March 2008 to February 2015, 143190 neonates were screened. Among them, 434 neonates were diagnosed as affected cases by CH, and the 7-year incidence of this disease was 303/ 100,000 live births. First, cousin consanguinity, hospitalization, male sex and low birth weight had a significant relationship with congenital hypothyroidism. Logistic regression analysis revealed that aforementioned variables in addition to delivery type (cesarean section) were significant predictor of CH. CH is more prevalent in Yazd compared to the other provinces in Iran. It is recommended that the effects of probable risk factors are evaluated through additional longitudinal studies and effective preventive strategies are designed according to the results.