Adequately Iodized Salt at Household Level and Associated Factors in Assosa Town, Benishangul Gumuz Regional State, Ethiopia, 2022

Abstract

Background: Iodine is an essential component of hormones which involve in regulating metabolism, physical growth, and development. The deficiency of Iodine leads to hypothyroidism and is the leading cause of preventable mental retardation. Many countries including Ethiopia implement national salt iodization to mitigate iodine deficiency. However, the adequacy of salt iodization is mostly suboptimal, requiring critical monitoring. Objectives: To assess the adequate iodized salt at the household level and associated factors in Assosa Town, Benishangul Gumuz Regional State Northwest Ethiopia, 2022 Methods: A community-based cross-sectional study design was conducted from May 21-30/2022 in Assosa Town. A systematic random sampling technique was used to identify households for the study. Data were coded and entered into Epi Data version 3.1 and exported to SPSS for windows version 26 for analysis. Descriptive statistics like the mean, frequency, and percentages for categorical data were computed. Binary logistic regression analysis was conducted to determine the association between independent and outcome variables. P-values <0.25 in the bivariate analysis were entered into the next multivariable analysis. Variables having a p-value <0.05 with 95% CI in the multivariate analysis were used to interpret the result. Result: 407 household respondents participated in the study with a response rate of 98.1%. Out of 407 tested salt samples, 213(52.3%) [95% CI: (47.4%-57.3%] of the salt sample was adequately iodized salt (≥15 ppm). Findings of multivariate analysis showed that households using packed salt were 2.53 times [AOR=2.53, 95% CI (1.18-5.42)] more likely to have adequate iodine in the salt than their counterpart. Salt stored for ≤2 months at the household level was 3.44 times [AOR=3.44, at 95% CI (1.16-10.15)] more likely to have adequate iodine (≥15ppm) than salt stored for greater than 2 months. Locally packed salt was 94% times [AOR=0.06, at 95% CI (0.03-0.12)] less likely to have adequate iodine than salt with the unknown packed address. Households purchasing the salt from the shop had 3.33 times [AOR=3.33, at 95% CI (1.86-5.94)] more likely to get adequate iodized salt than their counterpart. Conclusions and recommendations: Only half of the households had adequately iodized salt. Using packed salt, short duration of storing the salt (≤2 months), using local packed salt, and purchasing salt from the shop were variables significantly associated with adequate iodized salt in the household. All stakeholders for the elimination of iodine deficiency disorders should be given attention to the adequacy of iodine at the household level which the people use for consumption.