Difference in Goiter Rates Between Two Areas in Mae
Hong Son Province Despite an Equally Sufficient Iodine
Supply
APINUN ARAMRA 'ITA NA, M.D., Ph.D.*, AMPICA MANGKLABRUKS, M.D.*,
LADDAWAN LIMPUARNKIT, M.Sc.*, SAKDA PRUENGLAMPOO, Ph.D.**,
POSRI LEELAPAT, B.Sc. **, JONGKOL VACHIRANAKORN, B.Ed.*,
ARPORN SRIPHRAPRADANG, B.Sc.***, RAJATA RAJATANAVIN,M.D.***
Affiliation : *Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University,
**Research Institute for Health Science, Chiang Mai University, Chiang Mai 50200,
***Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University, Bangkok 10400, Thailand.
AbstractThe study was designed to investigate the problem of endemic goiter and iodine supple
mentation in Mae Hong Son, Thailand. Routine school data still showed high goiter rates in many
areas. Six such schools and five schools with declining prevalence of goiter were selected. A single
examiner examined all the children. Their weight, height, body mass index, ethnicity, history of
iodine intake and migration were recorded. Urine samples were collected for measuring iodine and
thiocyanate levels. From 653 children, 105 and 13 were found to have grade l and 2 goiter status,
respectively. Median values of urine iodine level in children from all schools suggested sufficient
iodine supplementation. Multivariate analysis showed that hilltribe minorities had a 2.09 times higher
risk of endemic goiter than Thai children. Urine thiocyanate levels among children from high pre
valence schools were significantly higher than those from low prevalence schools. No other signifi
cant correlation was found. Possible roles of other known and unknown goitrogens should also be
investigated.
Keywords : Endemic Goiter, Urine Iodine, Urine Thiocyanate, School Children
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