The trend of infertility in Iran, an original review and meta-analysis

ABSTRACT

Worldwide prevalence of infertility has been reported to be 3-7% of all couples. There are varieties among the results of studies conducted on the prevalence of infertility in Iran. The present study aimed to evaluate the trend of infertility using meta-analysis method in Iran. We systematically reviewed all published papers in Medline database of the National Library of Medicine and their Persian equivalents [2001-2011]. Findings which met the inclusion criteria were included. Random effects meta-analysis was applied to the data of 13 selected populations. Data manipulation and statistical analyses were performed using STATA. Overall, 13 studies met our inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of infertility was 13.2% [95% CI 8-18.3]. The pooled prevalence of primary and secondary infertility were reported to be 5.2% [95% CI 3.7 - 6.6] and 3.2% [95%CI 2 - 4.4], respectively. The lowest and highest frequency of lifetime prevalence of infertility was 2.8% in 2001 and 24.9% in 2010, respectively. Meta- regression scatter plot showed an increasing trend in the prevalence of infertility during 2001- 2011 [P = 0.58]. Meta-regression did not indicate a significant correlation between the sample sizes and the prevalence of infertility [P = 0.64]. The pooled infertility prevalence in Iran is higher than its mean worldwide, and lifetime infertility is increasing in recent years compared to the past in Iran