Sex and age prevalence of endemic goitre: an epidemiological study

A hyperendemic goitre are ain the State of Mato Grosso, Brazil, has been epidemiologically surveyed, following a methodology adopted by the World Health Organization. 3,757 individuals (1,762 males and 1,995 females) have been examined. The distribution of goitre according to sex and age has been analysed through simultaneous confidence intervals for contrasts among multinomial proportions, as well as multivariate models, using computer programs. Low frequencies of goitre have been found in both males and females younger than 5, while in the older groups the frequencies were very high. Females showed higher frequencies of goitre than males in puberty and adulthood. Multivariate analyses, where 21 independent variables entered in a number of multiple regression models, confirmed the influence of age and sex on the manifestation of endemic goitre.