A Meta-Analysis of the Prevalence of Children Goiter in High Water Iodine Areas of China

• Published in: Biological trace element research 2024-10, Vol.202 (10), p.4431-4439
• Main Authors: Xing, Zhilei, Liu, Siyu, Ding, Peisen, Yu, Xiaomeng, Song, Jiahui, Sun, Huajun, Cui, Yushan, Liu, Hongliang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Biochemistry; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomedical data; Biotechnology; Child; Children; China; China - epidemiology; computer software; Goiter; Goiter - epidemiology; Humans; Iodine; Iodine - urine; Life Sciences; Meta-analysis; Nutrition; Oncology; Prevalence; Review; Statistical analysis; Subgroups
• ISSN: 0163-4984; 1559-0720; 1559-0720
• DOI: 10.1007/s12011-023-04035-x

Although there are now a large number of studies confirming that high iodine levels can cause goiter, there is controversy and a lack of quantitative data. A systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science, China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang Database, and China Biomedical Database for literature on high iodine and goiter in children was performed with a time limit from January 2013 to October 2023. After screening the literature based on the inclusion criteria, extracting the literature data, and evaluating the risk of bias of the included studies, a single-arm meta-analysis was performed using R 4.0.4 software. Twenty-three studies with a total of 50,980 subjects were included. Meta-analysis showed that the prevalence of goiter among children in water-borne iodine-excess areas was 6.0% [95% CI (4.3%, 7.6%)], and subgroup analyses showed that the prevalence of goiter in children with water iodine 100.1–150 µg/L, 150.1–300 µg/L, and > 300 µg/L was 7.5% [95% CI (0.0%, 15.8%)], 5.5% [95% CI (3.1%, 8.0%)], and 10.2% [95% CI (6.7%, 13.6%)], respectively, and the difference was statistically significant ( P