EPIDEMIOLOGY OF NEONATAL CONGENITAL HYPOTHYROIDISM DURING 2011-2017

Introduction: Neonatal hypothyroidism is a condition of treatable thyroid deficiency that can lead to severe retardation if not diagnosed on time or inappropriately treated. The present study is an epidemiologic study of neonatal congenital hypothyroidism in Lordegan during 2012-2018. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed to evaluate the epidemiological characteristics of congenital hypothyroidism. The data were entered into SPSS version 20 software and analyzed by statistical tests, Chi square, ANOVA, T-Test, Pearson Correlation and Spearman Correlation at 0.05 Level. Results: The analysis of 7-years data showed that from the screening of 39332 newborns, 335 were identified as definitive patients, 159 males, 176 females, 275 rural (82.1%) and 169 neonates with a history of family marriage (50.4%). There was a significant relationship between neonatal birth weight and congenital hypothyroidism (P = 0.000). There was a significant relationship between type of delivery and hypothyroidism (P = 0.000). In the treated children, there was a direct relationship between the age of onset of treatment and their TSH level, which was statistically significant (P = 0.013). Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of congenital hypothyroidism in Lordegan, it is necessary to study further the factors affecting the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism as well as educate pregnant women and timely screening for this disease.