The association between high parity and palpable goitre among women in Mulago hospital: A case control study.

Abstract

Background: Goitre is the most common manifestation of thyroid disease with a global prevalence of 10%. In Uganda, the prevalence is at 14% despite achieving USI. Goitre has a higher preponderance among women at a ratio of three to one and tends to develop more during their reproductive period. High parity as a reproductive risk factor has been associated with goitre development especially in the Caucasian and Asian populations. Objective: To determine the association between high parity and palpable goitre among Ugandan women receiving care at Mulago hospital. Methods: This was a hospital based age-matched case control study conducted from January 2021 to April 2021. Data were entered into epidata version 4.2 and analysed using Stata statistical software version 16. The adjusted Odds Ratio was obtained using conditional logistical regression to control for confounding variables. Results: We identified 55 patients with goitre as cases, and 165 age matched patients without goitre as controls with a mean age of 41.8 +/- 12.35 for cases and 41.85 +/- 12.47 for controls. This study revealed that 19 (34.5%) of cases and 56 (33.9%) controls had high parity (p < 0.935). Conditional logistic regression shows that the adjusted odds ratio (OR) for palpable goitre among cases with high parity was 1.03 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.38~1.82) compared to controls. The adjusted ORs for palpable goitre for patients aged <50 and ≥50 years with high parity were 1.15 (95% CI: 0.83-1.85), and 0.45 (95% CI: 0.12-1.68) compared to controls, respectively. Conclusion: We concluded that, among Ugandans, high parity had no effect on the odds of getting a palpable goitre in this group of African women.