State of Goiter in 6-11 Year Old Students of Southern Khatam, Yazd

Introduction: Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) are the most common epidemiological problems in the world, including our country. In order to prevent IDD and its consequences, iodized table salt is being used in our country since 1989. At present, this program is 18 years old. The surveillance of IDD may be implemented to assess the prevalence of IDD, identify high risk areas for intervention and monitor and evaluate IDD control programs. Aim of this study was to determine prevalence of goiter and urinary iodine rate in 6-11 year old primary school children in Chahak area of Yazd. Methods: In this prevalence study, 530 primary school students aged 6-11 were selected by census. Thyroid examination and goiter classification was done according to WHO standards by one trained physician. From one–fourth of the total population, urine samples were taken and the household salt consumed by them was tested for iodine. Urinary iodine was determined by digestion method. Iodine of salt was determined by rapid test kit. Total goiter rate (TGR) was defined as sum of goiter grade I and II. Data was analyzed by SPSS software. Results: TGR, goiter 2 and grade 1 in Chahak areas were 29.1%, 25.1 and 4%, respectively. Prevalence of goiter grade2 in girls and boys was 3.3 and 4.7%, respectively (PV=0.6).TGR in 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 age groups was 15, 26.5, 27.5, 21.7, 31.1 and 37.9 (PV=0.93), respectively. TGR in Chahak, Shahriyary and Bakhtyary villages was 20.8, 36.9 and 68.7 (PV