Khaliq Abdul, Fayaz Mehwish, Hayat Imran, Abbas Muhammad
Prof. Dr. Abdul Khaliq, Professor Department of Soil and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Rawalakot Poonch, Azad Jammu Kashmir, Pakistan.
Mehwish Fayaz, Lecturer, Department of Eastern Medicine and Surgery, University of Poonch Rawalakot, Rawalakot Poonch, Azad Jammu Kashmir, Pakistan.
Pak J Med Sci. 2024 Aug;40(7):1454-1459. doi: 10.12669/pjms.40.7.8784.
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVES: Iodine deficiency is considered as a global challenge, even after decades of efforts to solve the issue. Our objective was to assess the iodine deficiency status and associated prevalence of goiter in population groups (school-age children and women) from rural areas of District Poonch, and to assess the determinants of iodine deficiency in the area.
Cross-sectional study was conducted in District Poonch Azad Jammu and Kashmir from 25 April 2022 to 30 June 2023. A total of 150 goiter patients from different villages of the District Poonch was included. Their urinary iodine concentration and goiter prevalence was assessed. Using palpation techniques, a trained and experienced public health officer assessed the presence of goiters based on WHO/ UNICEF/ICCIDD criteria. Descriptive statistics were computed for continuous variables and presented in frequency and percentage, based on the distributional characteristics of the data. chi-square was used to check association between socio-demographic factors and goiter. It was a HEC Project No.: 20-16988/NRPU/R&D/HEC/2021.
Iodine status and associated goiter prevalence was high and 59.3% of them were severely iodine deficient. Within the district, the highest severe iodine deficiency was observed in 81.1% goiter patients of the Rawalakot subdivision, Hajira and Abbaspur subdivisions. Regarding goiter status 40% of the patients were classified with palpable-visible goiter and 56% were characterized with visible but nodular goiter.
Study showed that there was a severe iodine deficiency and associated goiter prevalence in the area. Policymakers should take actions for future to overcome iodine deficiency in future.
即便经过数十年解决碘缺乏问题的努力，碘缺乏仍被视为一项全球挑战。我们的目标是评估蓬奇地区农村人口群体（学龄儿童和妇女）的碘缺乏状况及相关甲状腺肿患病率，并评估该地区碘缺乏的决定因素。
2022年4月25日至2023年6月30日在查谟和克什米尔自由邦的蓬奇地区进行了横断面研究。纳入了蓬奇地区不同村庄的150名甲状腺肿患者。评估了他们的尿碘浓度和甲状腺肿患病率。一名训练有素且经验丰富的公共卫生官员使用触诊技术，根据世界卫生组织/联合国儿童基金会/国际控制碘缺乏病理事会的标准评估甲状腺肿的存在情况。根据数据的分布特征，对连续变量进行描述性统计，并以频率和百分比呈现。采用卡方检验来检验社会人口学因素与甲状腺肿之间的关联。这是高等教育委员会项目编号：20 - 16988/NRPU/R&D/HEC/2021。
碘状况及相关甲状腺肿患病率较高，其中59.3%为严重碘缺乏。在该地区内，拉瓦尔科特分区、哈伊拉和阿巴斯布尔分区81.1%的甲状腺肿患者碘缺乏最为严重。关于甲状腺肿状况，40%的患者被归类为可触及可见性甲状腺肿，56%的患者特征为可见但有结节的甲状腺肿。
研究表明该地区存在严重碘缺乏及相关甲状腺肿患病率。政策制定者未来应采取行动克服碘缺乏问题。
