Maternal Urinary Iodine and Pregnancy Outcomes in Ngargoyoso Sub-District, Central Java, Indonesia

Abstract

Ngargoyoso sub-district has long been known as a pocket area of iodine deficiency in Central Java Indonesia. Unfortunately, there is no data available on iodine status of pregnant women in this area. Therefore, the present sutdy was aimed at measuring iodine status of pregnant women and their pregnancy outcomes. All pregnant women (N=153) who were listed in the health centre of Ngargoyoso sub-district in October 2012 included in the study. Urinary iodine was measured using method A (Sandell-Kolthoff reaction) from spots urine in an accredited IDD laboratory at Magelang, Central Java, Inodnesia. The pregnant women were followed up untill delivering their babies. The study was ended in May 2013. By using 150µg/L as cut-off point, 83(54.3%) pregnant women were found to be iodine deficient, whereas 43 (28.1%) of them were severely iodine deficient (i.e. <100µg/L). Pregnancy outcomes were recorded after delivery. No cretins and congenital malformations were reported, however there were 2 abortions (13.1/1000 live births) and 5 stillbirths (32.7/1000 live births). There was no correlation between urinary iodine of the mother and birthweight of the babies, even after stratification into low and normal urinary iodine excretion of the mother. The study revealed that abortion and stillbirth deleteteriously affected the pregnancy outcomes in the study area.

Keywords: iodine deficiency, pregnant women, pregancy outcomes, stillbirth.