The status of thyroid volume of children aged 8-10 years and influencing factors in Hefei City / 中华地方病学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the status and the influencing factors of thyroid volume of children aged 8-10 years in Hefei City.Methods In 2016,according to the requirements of "National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Surveillance Plan (the 2016 Edition)",the method of multistage stratified sampling was used in 9 counties (cities,districts) of Hefei.Five primary schools were randomly selected from each county (city,district),with one in each direction (the east,west,south,north and center),then 40 children aged 8-10 years (male ∶ female =1 ∶ 1,with similar age distribution) were randomly chosen in each primary school.The thyroid volume,height and weight were measured.In addition,a questionnaire with the items including personality,learning pressure,dietary habits,related disease history and contact history was designed and used to collect the data of the subjects.Results Totally 1 800 children aged 8-10 years were selected from 45 primary schools in 9 counties (cities,districts).The mean thyroid volume was (3.009 ± 1.197) ml.Totally 71 people were found with thyroid enlargement and the goiter rate was 3.9％,which was in the range described in the elimination iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) standard (＜ 5％).Univariate analysis showed that for children in different age groups,seafood consumption frequency,radiological examination,height,and body mass,the thyroid volumes were significantly different (P＜ 0.05);Multivariate linear regression showed that body weight and height were main factors affecting the thyroid volume of children aged 8-10 years in Hefei City,the standard partial regression coefficient are 0.288 and 0.140,respectively.Conclusions The thyroid volume of the 8-10 years old children is generally in the normal range in Hefei.Goiter rate is lower than the standard for elimination of iodine deficiency The findings have showed that not only age,but also height,body mass and other factors should be considered while evaluating the influencing factors of the thyroid volume of school-aged children.