High Risk Profile of Pregnancy in Iodine Deficiency Areas

Abstract

High-risk pregnancy, such as abortion, low birth weight, mortality, congenital defects of fetus, disorders of growth and hypothyroidism, might lead to many serious health problems, especially in iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) endemic areas. The aim of this research is to discover high-risk pregnancy profile in iodine deficiency areas. This research used cross-sectional research design. The population and samples were all pregnant mothers settled in research location which was purposively selected based on high IDD-alleged cases prevalence. The data were collected through observation, structured questionnaire, sampling of blood and urine, followed by laboratory analyses. Iodine deficiency was measured using urinary iodine excretion (UIE), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and free thyroxin (fT4) analyses. The results of the study reveal that they are 27% pregnant mothers with hypothyroidism in IDD endemic areas with more than half (59.5%) have iodine deficiency. Palpation measurement of thyroid gland shows that one third of the respondents (35.1%) have grade I and II gland enlargement. There are 16.2% pregnant mothers at high-risk age and 8.1% with high-risk of gravidarum (G), partus (P), and abortion (A). Most of them (64.9%) have high-risk birth distance. The chisquare test shows no correlation between high-risk factors of pregnancy and GPA. The conclusion of the research is that hypothyroidism is the most prevalent in high risk profile in pregnant women living in iodine deficiencies areas. Other factors are height of pregnant women, period of stay, birth distance and age, respectively. However, statistically they are not significant. Therefore, it is recommended to establish policy on continuous and sustainable program in coordination with related stakeholders and organizations in district level supported nationally by the government.

Correlation of offspring thyroid function and maternal iodine status in iodine deficient-coastal area

“…Whereas, the prevalence of iodine deficiency worldwide in insufficiency areas was higher (86%) than the prevalence of insufficiency in this research areas [6]. Pregnant women with high-risk pregnancy based on age were 25.1%, this was a higher percentage than found by Supadmi [13]. Additionally, this finding was also different from previous studies that the older age of the maternal, the higher risk of having an insufficient intake of iodine [14], [18].…”

“…Pregnant women who live in the coastal areas of Zhejiang had lower UIE than those who live in inland [12]. This research found a higher percentage of insufficient population compared to pregnant women who lived in the deficient area Ponorogo in West Java, Indonesia, namely 59.5% [13]. Patriota added that the prevalence of iodine insufficiency was 53% for women of childbearing age population [6].…”