A meta-analysis of Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder prevalence in Iran

Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common behavioral disorders in childhood that has significant effects on the child, family and society. The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of ADHD in Iran.

A search of internal databases including SID, Magiran, Irandoc, Iranmedex and also Google search engine obtained 136 Persian articles with ADHD theme. Based on the systematic review study protocol, the full text of the thirty-eight final papers that examined 35,036 children in 18 provinces of the country were selected for meta-analysis. GraphPad Prism5</sub> software was used for meta-analysis.

The findings showed that the prevalence of ADHD in the country was at least 0.95% to 17%, with an average of 8.7% and a confidence interval of 95% (6.10-11.23). The highest prevalence rate was in Tehran and the least amount was related to the study in Ilam province. According to the results, the prevalence of this disorder in boys is nearly twice in comparison to girls.

It seems that the prevalence of this disorder in Iran is not significantly different from the global average, and the differences resulting from the different rates of prevalence in different provinces are due to the difference in the examination and diagnostic protocols.