Awareness of the population in Russian Federation about iodine deficiency, its effects and methods for prevention of iodine deficiency disorders.

Background: Throughout all territory of Russian Federation has been confirmed absence of iodine deficiency of varying severity. Chronic iodine deficiency leads to irreversible defects in the intellectual and physical development of children, thyroid gland diseases, including such severe manifestations as functional autonomy and iodine-induced thyrotoxicosis and reproductive disorders.

Aims: To assess the awareness of Russians about the effect of iodine deficiency on health and the need to use iodized salt in food.

Materials and methods: During November 2019 we conducted an anonymous online survey about iodine deficiency and methods of its prevention. The participants of this survey were 9309 Russians of different age categories. We asked each respondent six questions regarding their knowledge about the importance of iodine for the body and its supply sources. This study is one-staged, uncontrolled, full-designed, and conducted using “Google Forms” (Google LLC, 2019). As a result, we summarized data on the awareness of Russians about iodine deficiency disorders and methods for its prevention.

Results: 60.4% of respondents is using iodized salt, while the number of respondents who consider prevention with iodized salt to be unhealthy (or have lack knowledge of its effects) is related to the number of respondents who do not use iodized salt. We get that in Volga region only 50% of population is using iodized salt (the lowest level), while 62.83% of the European South inhabitants is using iodized salt. In the rest of Russian Federation, this indicator varies from 52 to 57%. There is a low awareness of the population about prevention of iodine deficiency disorders and as a result myth about the dangers of universal salt iodization are widespread in Russian Federation.

Conclusions: Awareness of Russians about prevention of iodine deficiency disorders still remains at a low level, and it is directly affecting the success of ongoing prevention programs.

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