A survey of factors related to urine iodine levels in elementary school children, Kurdistan, Iran

BACKGROUND: Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) control program has two important factors: annual monitoring of urine iodine levels and controlling iodized salt consumed in the community. Preserving the iodine indexes in different level is important now too. This survey determined factors affecting median levels of urine iodine levels in students of Kurdistan Province (Iran). METHODS: This cross-sectional study selected 255 8-10-year-old students using cluster random sampling. Data was obtained by a questionnaire and urine analysis. The collected data was analyzed by Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, Spearman correlation, and multiple regression. All analyses were performed using SPSS. RESULTS: The median urine iodine level of the studied school children was 9.7 μg/dl. There was no significant relation between urine iodine level and sex, place of residence (rural/urban areas), and household iodized salt intake (r = 0.188, P = 0.003). Overall, 119 families (46.7%) did not appropriately protect their iodized salt. The amount of iodine in salt and the condition in which salt is kept had relationships with children's urine iodine levels. CONCLUSION: Low median level of urine iodine in students, low household iodized salt, and high use of salt with lesser iodine than the standard value showed that the IDD program in Kurdistan Province has not been successful. Therefore, there is a risk for increased prevalence of Goiter in the region. We recommend interventional programs to improve the current status in the province.