Bulletin of the World Health Organization

Endemic goitre in the Sudan despite long-standing programmes for the control of iodine deficiency disorders

Abdel Monim MH Medani, Abdelsalam A Elnour & Amal M Saeed

Volume 89, Number 2, February 2011, 121-126

Table 2. Goitre prevalence (GP) and other clinical indicators of thyroid functiona and iodine statusb in schoolchildren aged 6 to 12 years from selected cities in the Sudan, June–November 2006

City GP
 T4 (nmol/l)
 T3 (nmol/l)
 TSH (mIU/l)
 Tg (ng/ml)
 UIC (µg/dl)
 USCN (mg/dl)
% Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Mean SE Median Median
Nyala 64.1 112.8 4.00 1.90 0.07 1.83 0.18 22.83 1.99 6.15 0.48
Elfasir 66.0 110.1 3.40 1.70 0.06 1.73 0.15 28.31 1.89 3.35 0.45
Dmazine 26.9 104.6 4.40 1.97 0.07 2.71 0.24 30.98 3.75 7.30 0.41
Wau 49.2 112.4 5.60 2.22 0.12 1.69 0.14 25.71 2.52 9.40 0.49
Atbra 23.3 108.7 4.40 1.85 0.10 2.42 0.18 40.47 2.30 2.80 0.40
Kosti 77.7 110.4 4.70 1.74 0.07 1.78 0.19 66.98 4.47 2.70 0.35
Khartoum 14.3 101.0 5.60 2.13 0.08 1.71 0.15 56.33 2.83 5.80 0.32
Khartoum north 17.2 96.8 4.50 2.19 0.07 2.18 0.31 38.45 3.81 7.00 0.37
Omdurman 12.2 105.3 5.20 2.19 0.06 1.95 0.15 37.99 3.97 6.85 0.34
Dongla 43.2 87.4 4.10 1.83 0.09 3.13 0.32 27.22 1.82 8.90 0.31
Port Sudan 34.9 82.6 5.00 1.54 0.09 3.71 0.56 46.02 4.21 46.40 0.26
Overall 38.8 103.2 1.50 1.94 0.03 2.25 0.08 38.00 1.16 6.55 0.37

SE, standard error; T4, thyroxine; Tg, thyroglobulin; T3, triiodothyronine; TSH, thyroid-stimulating hormone; UIC, urinary iodine concentration; USCN, urinary thiocyanate.

a Normal total serum levels of T3, T4, TSH and Tg according to the Sudan Atomic Energy Commission are as follows: T4, 60–165 nmol/l; T3, 0.8–3.0 nmol/l; TSH, 0.7–5.0 mIU/l; Tg, 4.1–24.0 ng/ml.

b For UIC and USCN excretion, 10–20 μg/dl and ≤ 0.9 mg/dl, respectively, were considered normal values.