The Turkish Journal of Pediatrics 2006 , Vol 48 , Num 2
Prevalence of goiter and urinary iodine status of 7-11-year-old children in Malatya province, Turkey
1Departments of Public Health, Inönü University Faculty of Medicine, Malatya, Turkey
2 Departments of Biochemistry, Inönü University Faculty of Medicine, Malatya, Turkey
Eğri M, Bayraktar N, Temel İ, Ercan C, Ilgar M, Pehlivan E, Karaoğlu L, Güneş G, Genç M. Prevalence of goiter and urinary iodine status of 7-11-year-old children in Malatya province, Turkey. Turk J Pediatr 2006; 48: 119-123.

Goiter prevalence and urinary iodine excretion levels were assessed in 568 schoolchildren (317 boys and 251 girls), aged 7-11 years, living in the Malatya province, a well-known endemic goiter area in Turkey. Five hundred sixty-eight children aged 7-11 years consented to thyroid gland palpation and provided a urine sample on the day of examination in April 2004.

Median urinary iodine concentration for the total group was 66 µg/L. There was an association between presence of goiter or not and urinary iodine levels (67 µg/L versus 62 µg/L, p=0.000). The median urinary iodine concentration was lower in rural areas than in urban areas (54.6 µg/L versus 59.7 µg/L, respectively) and schoolchildren living in rural areas had significantly lower urinary iodine levels (p=0.000). In conclusion, the present study reports mild iodine deficiency in the Malatya province, despite a mandatory iodization program in Turkey which has been in force since 1998. Keywords : urinary iodine status, schoolchildren, Malatya, Turkey, endemic goiter

Copyright © 2016 turkishjournalpediatrics.org