Epidemiologic evaluation of thyroid diseases morbidity of Ukrainian adult population from 2000 to 2013

Abstract

Diseases of the thyroid gland have attracted considerable attention in recent decades. This is partly due to the fact that the thyroid gland reacts actively to the geochemical state and pollution of the environment with industrial and agricultural pollutants with the subsequent occurrence of certain pathological processes. Objective of the work was to analyze the morbidity of the adult population of Ukraine for the thyroid gland diseases in the period from 2000 to 2013. Methods. The methods of empirical and theoretical research of scientific information, namely analysis, synthesis, induction, deduction and systematization, epidemiological and statistical methods were used. Using the Microsoft Office Excel (2007) and IBM SPSS StatisticsBase v.22 program correlation and regression analyzes were conducted. Results. It was established that in the period from 2000 to 2013, higher levels of adult population endocrinopathies, thyroid in general and diffuse goiter of varying degrees general and primary morbidity were recorded in the Western and Northern regions of Ukraine, lower – in the Central, Eastern and Southern regions. Reliable (p < 0,001) positive correlation between the level of prevalence and the level of incidence of endocrine pathology, diseases of the thyroid gland as a whole, as well as on individual nosologies was detected. It was established that the endocrine diseases incidence rates of the adult population are well correlated (p < 0,01) with the prevalence and morbidity rates of the diffuse goiter of various degrees, which is explained by the high specific gravity of the latter in the structure of endocrine diseases in general and thyroid pathology, in particular. Conclusion. The regional peculiarities of the levels and dynamics of changes in the incidence rates of the thyroid morbidity among adult population of Ukraine can be attributed to the action of priority environmental factors for each region. It is known that the Western and Northern regions of Ukraine are characterized by low natural iodine content in the soil. The Northern regions significantly contaminated by radioactive substances. In the Eastern region, powerful industrial centers are concentrated. The Central and Southern regions have developed agricultural production, which today widely uses chemical plants protection products. The study of the environmental factors influence on the Ukrainian adult population thyroid morbidity will be devoted to our further research.