Prevalence of iodine deficiency among pregnant women in Gwembe and Sinazongwe districts of Southern Province, Zambia: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Maternal iodine deficiency is one of the common causes of morbidity and mortality during pregnancy. Maternal iodine deficiency during pregnancy is associated with a number of adverse outcomes such as abortion, stillbirth, congenital anomalies, perinatal mortality and irreversible mental retardation. A study conducted in Zambia among pregnant women in 2013 on the prevalence of iodine deficiency showed that iodine deficiency was not a public health concern. The previous study used Urine Iodine concentration (UIC) as a marker of iodine deficiency among the pregnant women. Our study was conducted to assess the prevalence of iodine deficiency among pregnant women in Gwembe and Sinazongwe districts of Southern Province, Zambia, using urine iodine concentration and goitre presence by manual palpation.

Methods: We carried out a community based, cross sectional study in rural areas of Gwembe and Sinazongwe districts between April 2016 to March 2018. Data were collected from 412 pregnant women by a multistage cluster sampling technique. The presence of a goitre was examined by manual palpation and urinary iodine concentration was determined by the Ultra Violet Method using PerkinElmer Labda UV Spectrometer equipment made in Jena Germany (Model 107,745). As part of the existing baseline data, we used results of a 2013 countrywide study (n = 489) for household salt iodine content which showed a greater than 40 ppm at 76.2%, between 15 and 40 ppm at 19.21% and less than 15 ppm at 4.59%. Statistical analysis was done using Stata version 14.0. The outputs of analysis are presented as median and Interquartile range (IQR) as the urine data were not normally distributed. Further, the categorical and independent variables were presented as proportions (percentages) to describe the distribution and trends in the target sample population.

Results: The median Urine Iodine concentration (UIC) of the pregnant women was 150 μg/L (Interquartile Range (IQR): 100-200 μg/L). Based on the UIC, There were 49% pregnant women who had inadequate iodine intake with urine iodine concentration of less than 150 μg/L, 34.0% had UIC of 150-249 μg/L indicating adequate iodine intake, 13.0% with UIC of 250-499 μg/L indicating more than adequate iodine intake, and 5.0% with UIC of above 500 μg/L indicating excessive iodine intake. To determine whether the women had access to iodized salt, we used baseline data from 2013 Zambia national survey for iodine concentration in household salt samples as being an average of 40 ppm, which also showed that 95.41% households consumed adequately iodized salt (≥15 ppm). The prevalence of goitre in our study was very low at 0.02% among the pregnant women of all ages who participated in the study (18-49 years).

Conclusion: Iodine deficiency was still not a public health concern among the pregnant women of Gwembe and Sinazongwe districts of Southern Province in Zambia. Goitre prevalence has remained very low in this study area. The UIC and goitre observations were consistent with the Zambia National Food and Nutrition Commission findings in 2013 report. However, our study showed more pregnant women with insufficient than adequate iodine status indicating the risk of developing IDD is still high in this region. It also reinforces the argument that strengthening of the existing salt iodization program is needed in order to make a homogenous iodated salt available to the communities. The National Food and Nutrition Commission of Zambia needs to find innovative ways of sensitizing people about the adverse effects of IDDs and how these could be prevented. It is recommended that iodine supplementation be introduced as part of the package of Antenatal clinic care for all pregnant women.