AVAILABILITY OF ADEQUATELY IODIZED SALT AT HOUSEHOLD LEVEL AND ASSOCIATED FACTORS TO IODIZED SALT USE AMONG HOUSEHOLDS IN RURAL COMMUNITIES IN THE HOHOE MUNICIPALITY OF GHANA
Journal Title: World Journal of Pharmaceutical and Medical Research - Year 2017, Vol 3, Issue 5
Abstract
Background: Iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs) are a major public health concern affecting an estimated 2 billion people worldwide. In order to eliminate IDDs, the Universal Salt Iodization (USI) regulations mandate salt for human and animal consumption to be iodized. This study was a baseline assessment in four selected rural field sites on the current iodized salt availability and utilization in households and factors contributing to low iodized salt use in the Likpe sub-Municipality of Hohoe municipality. Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional baseline survey involving 260 households from four rural communities. A systematic randomized sampling technique was used to select households. Data was collected from household heads using structured questionnaires and rapid field iodine test kits. Descriptive statistics was used for proportions and t-test for difference in means. Chi-square test and binary logistic regression were used to assess the associations between the dependent and independent variables. A p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results: A total of 260 household heads were surveyed, of which 136 (52.5%) claimed they used iodized salt. Of the 232 (89.2%) households with salt available for testing, (43.0%) were granular, coarse (36.0%) and fine/smooth salt (20.9%) type of salt. Only 16.5% of the household’s salt tested contained adequate iodine (≥15ppm), 18.5% contained inadequate iodine (1-14 ppm) and 64.6% contained no iodine (0.0ppm). Smooth/fine salt was found to have 84.6% adequate iodine whilst coarse and granular salt each contained only 7.7% adequate iodine. The main reason for using coarse and granular salt was that it was readily available while fine/smooth salt was used to provide good health. Households with more than 10 people were less likely to use iodized salt [OR=0.05 (95% CI: 0.00, 0.73); p=0.029]. Respondents with at least primary education were more likely to use iodized salt [OR=12.21 (95% CI: 1.01, 159.29); p=0.049]. Even though not statistically significant, salt sold in the market and by mobile van in the rural communities was 0.37 and 0.13 times less likely to contain iodine as compared to those sold in shops [OR= 0.37 (95% CI: 0.08, 1.78); p=0.215] and [OR=0.13 (95% CI: 0.01, 1.22); p=0.074] respectively. The main sources of information were media (35.3%) and health workers (34.6%). Conclusion: Information from this baseline survey would be used to introduce some interventions such as awareness creation and counselling programmes in these selected communities. Regulatory bodies must enforce the law and ensure that every salt sold in the market or by mobile van contains adequate iodine.
Authors and Affiliations
Elvis Tarkang
Keywords
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