The prevalence of depression in Iranian children: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: The present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of depression in Iranian children. METHOD: This meta-analysis was registered in PROSPERO with code (CRD42020216632) and performed based on the MOOSE protocol and PRISMA guidelines. Title and abstract of articles were searched without time limit until April 2020 in international databases PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Embase, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, CINAHL, EBSCO, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and Iranian databases. RESULTS: In 34 studies with a sample size of 23,779 Iranian children, the prevalence of depression was estimated 42.3 % (95 %CI: 34.9-50.0). Prevalence of depression in girls in 20 studies with a sample size of 11,170 was estimated 42.1 % (95 %CI: 32.7-52.1) and the prevalence of depression in males in 20 studies with a sample size of 4678 was estimated 29.6 % (95 %CI: 21.2-39.7). The odds ratio of female to male depression was 1.33 (95 %CI: 1.07-1.65, P < 0.011). Prevalence of mild, moderate, major and deep depression was 20.3 % (95 %CI: 16.4-24.9), 15.0 % (95 %CI: 11.3-19.7), 14.5 % (95 %CI: 10.8-19.1), and 4.3 % (95 %CI: 1.8-9.8), respectively. In subgroup analysis for prevalence of depression in Iranian children, the variables of geographical area (P = 0.258), quality of studies (P = 0.186), type of questionnaire (P = 0.907), sample size (P = 0.500) and year of studies (P = 0.538) were not significant, but subgroup analysis of province (P < 0.001) and school grade (P < 0.001) were significant. CONCLUSION: The results of the present meta-analysis showed that depression is common in Iranian children and is much higher than global estimates. These findings emphasize the importance of identifying and providing treatment to children who are most in need.

Assessing the quality of meta-analyses in systematic reviews in pharmaceutical research in Iran by 2016: A systematic review.

Background: Meta-analyses, like all other studies, may be poorly designed and implemented. This study was designed to determine the quality of meta-analyses in systematic reviews in the field of pharmaceutical research in Iran. Methods: Web of Science Core Collection, EMBASE, Ovid Medline, CINAHL, Scopus, and PubMed were systematically searched on June 4, 2017. The search was limited to the researches in the field of pharmaceutical studies. Based on inclusion criteria, 104 systematic reviews with meta-analysis (SRMA) were selected and assessed using quality assessment tools introduced by Higgins. Results: Participants, experimental interventions, and outcomes were reported in all the articles. Comparator intervention and study design were correctly reported in 103 (99.04%) and 101 (97.12%) articles, respectively. The comprehensive search strategy was available only in 48 articles (46.16%), and there was no evidence of a comprehensive search in 56 articles (53.84%). Risk of bias was investigated in 78 articles (75%). Also, funnel plots were the most commonly used method for reporting the bias in 64 articles (46.42%). Conclusion: In many of the meta-analyses, several items of the tool that represented a high-quality meta-analysis were absent. According to the findings, the comprehensive search and quality assessment were not at an appropriate level. Thus, the importance of reproducibility of information and quality assessment of included studies should be emphasized.

Correction: Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0214738.].

The etiology and prevalence of urinary tract infection and asymptomatic bacteriuria in pregnant women in Iran: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is a common clinical problem in pregnant women. Bacteriuria in pregnancy without antibiotic treatment could result in complications. This study aims to investigate the etiology and prevalence of UTI and asymptomatic bacteriuria (ASB) in pregnant women in Iran. METHOD: This meta-analysis follows the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. To avoid bias, all steps of the study were carried out independently by two researchers. We conducted a comprehensive search on all the related literature in national databases, including IranDoc, SID, Barakat Knowledge Network System, RICST, Magiran, Iranian National Library and international databases, including Scopus, Embase, Science Direct, PubMed/ Medline, Cochrane Library, Web of Sciences, EBSCO, as well as Google Scholar search engine until June 2018. After considering the inclusion/exclusion criteria and qualitative evaluation, studies were analyzed based on random effects model using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software Version 2. RESULTS: In 31 studies with a sample size of 20,309, the prevalence of ASB in pregnant Iranian women was estimated to be 8.7% (95%CI: 7.2-10.4). The lowest and highest prevalence of ASB were observed in the third trimester (6.1% [95%CI: 2.1-16.4]) and first trimester (11.7% [95%CI: 7.9-16.9]), respectively. Subgroup analysis of the prevalence of ASB based on geographical region (P = 0.002) and province (P <  0.001) was significant but for the quality of studies (P = 0.51) was not significant. In 17 studies including 48,731 pregnant women, the prevalence of UTI was estimated to be 9.8% (95%CI: 7.6-12.5). The test for subgroup differences of prevalence of UTI for province (P <  0.001) was significant but for geographical region (P = 061) and quality of studies (P = 0.11) was not significant. Meta-regression model for the prevalence of UTI and ASB in pregnant women in Iran based on year of the studies was significant (P <  0.001). The most common microorganism involved in the etiology of UTI (61.6% [95%CI: 51.6-70.7]) and ASB (63.22% [95%CI: 51.2-73.8]) was E. coli. CONCLUSION: UTI and ASB are prevalent in pregnant women in Iran. Therefore, UTI screening is essential in pregnant women. The most common microorganism involved in the etiology of UTI and ASB in pregnant women in Iran is E.coli.

Epidemiology of multiple sclerosis in Iran: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is one of the most common neurological disorders and is one of the main causes of disability. The prevalence and incidence of MS in Iran is reported to range from 5.3 to 89/ 100,000and 7 to 148.1/ 100,000, respectively. There are no systematic and meta-analysis studies on MS in Iran. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and incidence of MS in Iran using meta-analysis. METHOD: A systematic review of the present study focused on MS epidemiology in Iran based on PRISMA guidelines for systematic review and meta-analysis. We searched eight international databases including Scopus, PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, EMBASE, PsycINFO, Google Scholar search engine and six Persian databases for peer-reviewed studies published without time limit until May 2018. Data were analyzed using Comprehensive meta-analysis ver. 2 software. The review protocol has been registered in PROSPERO with ID: CRD42018114491. RESULTS: According to searching on different databases, 39 (15%) articles finalized. The prevalence of MS in Iran was estimated 29.3/ 100,000 (95%CI: 25.6-33.5) based on random effects model. The prevalence of MS in men and women was estimated to be 16.5/ 100,000 (95%CI: 13.7-23.4) and 44.8/ 100,000 (95%CI: 36.3-61.6), respectively. The incidence of MS in Iran was estimated to be 3.4/ 100,000 (95%CI: 1.8-6.2) based on random effects model. The incidence of MS in men was estimated to be 16.5/ 100,000 (95%CI: 13.7-23.4) and the incidence of MS in women was 44.8/ 100,000 (95%CI: 36.3-61.6). The meta-regression model for prevalence and incidence of MS was significantly higher in terms of year of study (p<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study can provide a general picture of MS epidemiology in Iran. The current meta-analysis showed that the prevalence and incidence of MS in Iran is high and is rising over time.