The prevalence of clinical goiter and urinary iodine concentration in 8-12 years old students of Semirom in 2004 (15 years after execution of national program for elimination of iodine deficiency disorders)

Background and With respect to the high prevalence of goiter in Semirom before the initiation of National Program for Elimination of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (NPEIDD), the impact of the program on the prevalence of goiter in 8-12 years old students of Semirom was investigated in this study, after 15 years of sucessful execution of NPEIDD. After excluding students with any clinical evidence of hyper- or hypo-thyroidism, 1817 students aged 8-12 years were recruited based on a cluster sampling method. The participants were examined for the presence of goiter by experiencd endocrinologists. Urinary iodine was measured in 182 examined students, too. Chi- Square statistical method was used to analyze the data. Goiter was detected in 36.7% of the students (grade 1: 30.4%, grade 2: 6.3%). The median urinary iodine was 18.5 and mean was 19.37 ± 9.22 μg/dl in collected specimens. The adequacy of urinary iodine in students of Semirom confirms the success of NPEIDD, however, the higher than expected prevalence of goiter in the region suggests the probable role of other goitrogenous or autoimmune factors. Further studies should be performed to investigate the possible causes.