Urinary Iodine Concentration and Mortality Among U.S. Adults

BackgroundIodine deficiency has long been recognized as an important public health problem. Global approaches such as salt iodization that aim to overcome iodine deficiency have been successful. Meanwhile, they have led to excessive iodine consumption in some populations, thereby increasing the risks of iodine-induced thyroid dysfunction, as well as the comorbidities and mortality associated with hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism. This study aimed to elucidate whether iodine intake is associated with mortality among U.S. adults.MethodsThis was an observational study to estimate mortality risks according to urinary iodine concentration (UIC) utilizing a nationally representative sample of 12,264 adults aged 20-80 years enrolled in the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) III. Crude and multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression models were employed to investigate the association between UIC (