Poster Presentation ESA-SRB Conference 2015

Iodine status in women of childbearing age (#220)

Kharis Burns 1 2 , Constance Yap 1 2 , Ashraf Mina 3 , Jenny E Gunton 1 4 5 6 7
  1. Department of Diabetes and Endocrinology, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia
  2. University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  3. Institute of Clinical Pathology and Medical Research, Westmead Hospital, Westmead, NSW, Australia
  4. Faculty of Medicine, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  5. St Vincent’s Clinical School, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  6. Diabetes and Transcription Factors Group, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney, NSW, Australia
  7. Department of Diabetes, Obesity and Endocrinology, Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, Westmead, NSW, Australia

Background

Iodine deficiency has been recognised as a significant public health concern in Australia.1 Deficiency is of most concern in women planning pregnancy, given risks associated with poor neurological development in the baby. Following implementation of strategies to improve iodine intake at a population level, there has been minimal investigation into the current status of this problem.

Methods

Women of childbearing age attending outpatient clinics at Westmead Hospital, were asked to complete a questionnaire surveying dietary iodine intake as well as use of medications and recent IV radiological contrast exposure. A random single spot urine iodine was concurrently measured. The relationships between urine iodine level and dietary intake and use of iodine-containing multivitamins/ medications were examined.

Results

51 women completed the study. The median age was 30.4 (SD 6.9) years. The most represented ethnicities in the cohort were Caucasian 19/51(37.3%), Middle Eastern 13/51(25.5%), South East Asian and Indian Subcontinental both 8/51(15.7% in each group). The most commonly consumed source of dietary iodine was iodised salt 17/51(33.3%) used every day, followed by sliced bread 15/51(29.4%) used every day. 10/51(19.6%) used an iodine-containing multivitamin.

The median urine iodine level was 113ug/L (64,246) and 21/51 (41.2%) of women were iodine deficient (urine iodine <100ug/L). Half (5/10) of women taking iodine-containing multivitamins were iodine deficient. Excluding women on iodine-containing multivitamins and thyroxine, the median urine iodine level was 113ug/L (79,243). There was no statistically significant association between urine iodine and age or dietary iodine consumption (all spearman rank correlations <0.15 in absolute value). There was no significant association between urinary iodine levels and use of iodine-containing multivitamins or medications.

Conclusions

Despite public health strategies aimed at improving iodine intake, a significant proportion of women of childbearing age remain iodine deficient. Further research is needed to characterise this significant public health issue.

  1. Gunton JE, Hams G, Fiegert M, McElduff A. Iodine deficiency in ambulatory participants at a Sydney teaching hospital: is Australia truly iodine replete? Medical Journal of Australia 1999;171:467-70.