Endemic goitre and urinary iodine levels in rural communities in the Bolgatanga and Builsa districts of the upper east region of Ghana

Objective: To ascertain the severity of IDD in some rural communities in up per east of Ghana and to urge the establishment of intervention and control measures for IDD. Subjects and study design: A total of 1061 subjects, made up of about an eq ual number of children (8-14 years) and women of childbearing age (15-45 ye ars) from seven Sekoti villages and five Builsa villages of the upper east of Ghana were examined for goitre by the palpation method. In addition, eve ry tenth subject examined, provided urine for urinary iodine determination. Results: 68.8% of the subjects had goitre; 9.9% had visible goitre. The goi tre rates of the children from Builsa (77.2%) were significantly higher tha n those from Sekoti (59.1%) [z=4.5; p<0.001]. The overall prevalence of goi tre and visible goire in women in the two areas were 70.8% and 15.4% respec tively. The women of Sekoti had more goitres (76.6%) but less visible goitr es (8.8%) than those of Builsa (63.5 % and 21.9%) [p<0.001). The median uri nary iodine level for the two survey areas was 1.6 mu g/dl. 72% of subjects and urinary iodine less 2 mu g/dl/24% had urinary iodine levels in the ran ge 2-5 mu g/dl and the remainder had urine iodine in the range 5-10 mu g/dl . Conclusions: These findings indicate severe IDD in Sekoti and Builsa areas requiring urgent action. Further studies are indicated to determine the cau se(s) of the IDD endemia.