title: Feasibility of thyroid ultrasonography in field studies in a developing country, Ghana.
abstract: This study was carried out to determine the feasibility of using ultrasonography for goitre estimation in the field situation. It is a cross sectional study that was conducted using community based cluster sample. Thyroid sonography was performed on 112 randomly selected school children aged 10 -15 years from two districts in the Greater Accra area of Ghana, using normative values for thyroid volume recommended by WHO/ICCIDD. The mean age of all subjects was 13.5 years+/-0.13 SEM. The male to female ratio was 1:1. The mean height and weight of the children were 1.5 metres+/-0.9 SEM and 38.1 Kg+/-0.7 SEM, respectively. The mean body surface area was 1.27 m2+/-0.2. There were no significant gender differences in their ages (13.6yrs+/-0.2 SEM, 13.4yrs+/-0.1 SEM, respectively) and height (1.50m+/-1.6 SEM, 1.46m+/-1.7 SEM, respectively). The girls (40.0kg+/-1.2 SEM) weighed more than the boys (35.6kg+/-1.1). The mean and median urinary iodine concentration were 82.4+/-8.5 SEM and 67.9 ug/l, respectively. All the children examined had normal thyroid sonogram. The thyroid volumes ranged from 3.6 ml to 15.3ml. The mean thyroid volume was 7.0ml+/-0.2 SEM and the thyroid volume was higher in the girls (7.5ml+/-0.3 SEM) than the boys (6.5ml+/-0.2 SEM). The criteria of thyroid volume per age and sex yielded a goitre prevalence of 1.8 %. In contrast, the criteria of thyroid volume by surface area yielded a goitre prevalence of 8 %. Our study has shown that it is feasible to employ ultrasonography for field studies to determine goitre prevalence in school children in a developing country such as Ghana. However, the best criteria for goitre in children in Ghana, requires to be confirmed in future studies.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine and Therapeutics, Diabetes Research Laboratory, University of Ghana Medical School, Accra, Ghana. agbamoah@ghana.com
authors.forename: A G B
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Amoah
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Asibey-Berko
authors.forename: O M
authors.initials: OM
authors.lastname: Ayettey
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Addo
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Agyepong
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lartey
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Ndanu
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003906:Developing Countries; D005240:Feasibility Studies; D005260:Female; D005869:Ghana; D006042:Goiter / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D006801:Humans; D007455:Iodine / Q000652:urine; D008297:Male; D012016:Reference Values; D012494:Sampling Studies; D013961:Thyroid Gland / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D007455:Iodine