Goitre Prevalence and Urinary Iodine Concentration in School-Aged Children in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

Abstract

Background. Iodine deficiency is a public health problem. The universal salt iodization (USI) program is the main, simple, and cost-effective intervention strategy to control iodine deficiency. The study examined the iodine status in school-aged children in Ashanti region, Ghana, using thyroid volumes along with urinary iodine concentrations, the methods recommended by the WHO/ICCIDD for monitoring the sustained impact of USI programs. Methods. This cross-sectional study was conducted among school-aged children (6–12 years) from randomly selected schools in the central and northern part of the Ashanti region, Kumasi Metropolis, and Ejura-Sekyedumase Municipality, respectively. A total of 852 children were enrolled in the study. Thyroid volume and urinary iodine concentrations of the children were determined using the standardized methods recommended by WHO/ICCIDD. Anthropometric measurements were also evaluated. Results. The mean values of thyroid volume in female and male school-aged children were 3.53 ± 0.09 and 3.32 ± 0.07, respectively. The thyroid size was significantly associated with age (P<0.0001), weight (P<0.0001), height (P<0.0001), BMI (P<0.05), and BSA (P<0.0001) by Pearson’s correlation in both males and females. The P50 (median) thyroid volumes of school children investigated in this study were generally larger compared to the WHO/ICCIDD reference data by age and body surface area. The median value of urinary iodine concentration was 201.85 μg/L, which showed significant sex difference (P value <0.0001). Excessive iodine nutrition (≥300 μg/L) was observed among 34.4% of male children and 27.6% of female children. Also, 12.8% of the male and 19.5% of the female children had UIC below requirement (<100 μg/L). The criteria of thyroid volume per age yielded a goitre prevalence of 2.2%. In contrast, the criteria of thyroid volume by body surface area yielded a goitre prevalence of 0.9%. Conclusion. The study clearly indicated that adequate iodine nutrition exists generally among the school children. However, insufficient and excessive iodine intakes still persist among some of the children. The establishment of local reference values for thyroid volume that might be applicable to precisely define goitre prevalence in the Ghanaian context is highly recommended.

Iodine Nutritional Status and Thyroid volume of School-Aged Children in Wuhan, central of China

“…In the present study, consistent with several other studies [27], we presented the data on BSA and age-speci c thyroid volumes. The P97 thyroid volumes of both boy and girl of school-aged children observed in this study were generally higher than that reported by WHO/ICCIDD in 2007 irrespective of whether it was expressed as a function of age and BSA.…”

“…However, in the Ashanti Region of Ghana, Daniel Gyam showed that only age signi cantly predicted thyroid volume which was conducted in 6-12 years old children, although which factor had the greatest impact on thyroid volume remained to be studied [27]. It may be that the years of 8-10 cannot be enough to re ect the difference in Tvol, and the result may be different after expanding the age range in our study.…”

The Magnitude of Hidden Hunger and Cognitive Deficits among Children Living in Orphanages in Kumasi, Ghana

“…A systematic review and meta-analysis by Xiu et al [36] reported that among school-aged children, excessive iodine intake could lead to elevated goiter risk. In contrast to the absence of excessive iodine intake in this population of SAC, Gyamfi et al [28] reported a prevalence of 34% and 28% among male and female SAC, respectively. While seeking to increase iodine consumption to prevent iodine deficiency diseases, care must be taken alongside effective monitoring to prevent excessive consumption, which can also be detrimental.…”

“…Iodine deficiency is a public health concern in developing countries, and indeed, Ghana is situated in the iodine deficiency belt, as reported by Gyamfi et al [28]. e prevalence of iodine deficiency in this study population of school-aged orphans was 16.2%, the same as the prevalence recorded by Gyamfi et al [28] among 6 to 12 year old nonorphaned SAC in the Ejura-Sekyere-Dumase district in the Ashanti region of Ghana but much lower than the 57% prevalence reported among SAC in Southeast Ethiopia [29]. However, another study among SAC in Eastern Nepal recorded a lower prevalence of 9.8% [30].…”

Study on influential factors and reference values for thyroid volume in Chinese children aged 6–12 years

“…According to a report by Zimmermann MB in 2008, there were approximately 2 billion people in the world who did not have enough iodine intake (3) . Considering that school-age children are the most sensitive group to iodine deficiency, indicators of iodine nutritional status in school-age children are used to evaluate the iodine status of the general population in a certain area, which includes the median of urinary iodine concentration (MUIC) and thyroid goitre rate (TGR) (4,5) .…”