Background: Iodine is an essential trace element implicated in synthesis of thyroid hormones. Iodine requirements vary throughout life. This iodine requirement is increased during pregnancy and breastfeeding. In a previous study carried out by our group in 2008, we detected an iodine-deficient area in the province of Huelva, specially in district Sierra de Huelva-Andévalo by means of neonatal TSH determinations.
Objective: To reinforce the iodine supplementation campaign and its impact on their newborns in order to assess nutrition iodine status in pregnant women using questionnaire and ioduria determination.
Material and methods: This study has been jointly carried out by Congenital Hypothyroidism Unit of the Clinical Biochemistry Department of the Virgen Macarena University Hospital (Seville) and the Gynecology and Clinical Analysis Unit of the Río Tinto Hospital (Huelva) during two years. We studied 313 pregnant women. All of them filled out a personal questionnaire to know the iodine nutritional status in their area. Ioduria was determinated by high-resolution liquid chromatography. Data from pregnant women and results of the studied variables were analyzed with SPSS v13.0.
Conclusions: Pregnant women from the sanitary district Sierra de Huelva-Andévalo present a median for ioduria which corresponds to an insufficient iodine intake according to the WHO classification. The questionnaires suggest that this iodine deficiency is consequence of an insufficient iodine intake and a low adherence to the treatment.