Open AccessOral Contraceptive Intake and Iodine Status in Young Women
Author(s) -
Carola Deischinger,
Doris Deischinger,
Irina Gessl,
Michael Krebs,
Rodrig Marculescu,
Alexandra KautzkyWiller,
Lana Kosi-Trebotic
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
annals of nutrition and metabolism
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.926
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1421-9697
pISSN - 0250-6807
DOI - 10.1159/000518135
Subject(s) - medicine , creatinine , urine , iodine , cross sectional study , population , gynecology , iodine deficiency , physiology , endocrinology , thyroid , environmental health , chemistry , organic chemistry , pathology
Objective: Similar to pregnant women, women taking an oral contraceptive (OC) might have elevated iodine requirements due to the altered hormonal state. This is the first study aimed at investigating the prevalence of iodine deficiency and possible influences of OC intake on urine creatinine and iodine levels in young women. Methods: One hundred fifty-five women between the age of 18 and 35 years (62 taking an OC and 93 controls) participated in a cross-sectional pilot study at the Medical University of Vienna, which included a 1-spot urine sample and a questionnaire on OC intake as well as a food questionnaire. Results: The median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) in this study was 68 μg/L (41, 111 μg/L) suggesting an inadequate iodine status in the women according to the WHO guidelines. Median UIC (OC: 89 μg/L, IQR 55–120; control: 59 μg/L, IQR 39–91, p = 0.010) and urine creatinine (OC: median = 99.0 μg/L, IQR 74.9–175.5; control: 77.0 μg/L, IQR 49.6–147.2, p = 0.030) levels were significantly higher in OC women than in the control group. UIC corrected for urine creatinine was comparable between both groups. Conclusion: With similar creatinine-corrected UICs in both groups, OC intake might not have a significant impact on iodine status. However, the low median UIC in a vulnerable group of young women potentially conceiving in the following years points at the necessity of optimizing the iodine intake in the Austrian population and reiterates the insufficiency of the current iodine supplementation measures.