Table 2.

Prevalence of selenium (Se) deficiency among women of reproductive age (WRA, aged 15–49 years) and men (aged 20–54 years) in Malawi, based on plasma Se concentration thresholds for optimal activity of glutathione peroxidase 3 (GPx3; <84.9 ng mL⁻¹), iodothyronine deiodinase (IDI; <64.8 ng mL⁻¹), and for Keshan Disease (KD; <30 ng mL⁻¹) which is a cardiomyopathy linked to Se status reported in China. Thresholds from Thomson (ref.⁹).

Characteristic		n	Prevalence (%) below the plasma Se concentration threshold
			GPx3	IDI	KD
WRA	Urban	126	52.3	12.7	0.0
	Rural	676	64.3	32.7	1.8
	All	802	62.5	29.6	1.5
Men	Urban	28	50.0	17.9	0.0
	Rural	187	58.3	23.0	1.1
	All	215	57.2	22.3	0.9