Objective To investigate the thyroid health status, iodine-intake level and potential impact factors in fishermen of Shengshan Town in Zhoushan Archipelago.
Methods A survey on thyroid health was carried out in a fisherman residential area, including a questionnaire, physical examination, B-mode ultrasonic thyroid scan, levels of free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) and thyroid peroxidase antibody (TPOAb) in serum, as well as urinary iodine. Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine urinary iodine levels among groups and the risk factors of thyroid abnormalities were evaluated by a logistic regression analysis.
Results A total of 362 fishermen were recruited, 44.5% (161/362) of which were found to have thyroid abnormalities, including 40.3% (146/362)with B-mode ultrasonic abnormality, 9.7% (35/362) with TPOAb-positive and 3.3% (12/362)with thyroid dysfunction. 86.7% (314/362)of fishermen used iodized-salt in daily cooking. The median of urinary iodine (MUI)was 193.6μg/L. Being male fishermen (χ2=5.459, P < 0.05), using iodized-salt (χ2=7.051, P < 0.01)or being overweight (χ2=7.725, P < 0.05)showed significantly higher iodine-intake level. No difference in urinary iodine level was found in fishermen with or without thyroid abnormality (χ2=0.110, P>0.05). Age (OR 1.266; 95%CI 1.001-1.600), gender (OR 0.442; 95%CI 0.282-0.694) and diastolic pressure (OR 6.066; 95%CI 2.176-16.909) were identified as potential risk factors to thyroid health.
Conclusion A relatively high prevalence of thyroid abnormalities was found in fishermen in Shengshan island, but their iodine-intake level still met the recommendation of WHO. Iodized-salt, gender, and overweight showed various impact to io dine-intake. Age, gender and diastolic pressure are identified as potential risk factors of thyroid abnormalities.
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