Evaluation of the effectiveness of long-term prevention of iodine deficiency by biological monitoring

Abstract

Regular (for 5 years) addition of salt iodinated with potassium iodinate to diets of children living in a region with moderate iodine deficiency normalized iodine content in the organism, decreased the incidence of goiter from 22.6 to 7.3% (according to ultrasonic data), and prevented an increase in the incidence of goiter during the prepubertal period. Evaluation of the size of goiter in screening examinations by palpation using О. V. Nikolaev’s classification leads to hyperdiagnosis (67%>), while palpation in combination with WHO classification results in hypodiagnosis of goiter (47%). Palpation of the thyroid with WHO classification is recommended as the main screening method; such a combination of methods results in a lower incidence of erroneous diagnoses (22%) than with Nikolaev's classification (56%). The level of serum TTH did not depend on iodine prophylaxis and was normal.