Prevalence and Pattern of Infertility in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Study

Context: 

Infertility is a complex reproductive issue worldwide. Knowledge about the prevalence of any health problems like infertility is the first step towards policymaking in order to make effective decisions.

An electronic systematic review was conducted in 2019 through search in PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Science Direct, and EMBASE data bases. Following the evaluation of the articles by the research team, 11 articles were accepted based on the inclusion criteria of the study. The information was analyzed utilizing Stata software version 11.

The results of analysis on 58,746 participants showed that the prevalence of primary infertility was 5.0% (95% CI: 4.0, 6.0%; I2: 98.20%) and the prevalence of secondary infertility was 2.0% (95% CI: 1.0, 3.0%; I2: 98.48%). The prevalence of primary and secondary infertility by gender was higher in women (6% and 3%, respectively). The prevalence of primary infertility was more common in people under the age of 35.

In Iran, the pattern of infertility presents a higher prevalence of primary infertility, which is probably due to the differences in the pattern of sexual relations in Iran. The more prevalence is primary infertility and infertility in women under the age of 35, the more attention should policymakers pay to provide effective plans for reducing infertility in the future.