Journal of School of Public Health and

Background and Aim: Anemia in pregnant women is a common disease in developing countries, the prevalence ranging between 35% and 100%. Based on a systematic review in 2005 anemia prevalence among Iranian pregnant women was estimated to be 12.4%. The objective of the present systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine anemia prevalence among Iranian pregnant women between 2005 and 2016.

Materials and Methods: This systematic review, using standard key words, included databases Magiran, Iranmedex, IranDoc, SID, Medlib, Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, Cochran, Embase, Springer, Web of Science, and  Online Library Wiley, as well as the Google Scholar search engine of for the period 2005-2016. All the reviewed papers meeting the inclusion criteria were included in the study. Data were analyzed using the random effect model based on meta-analyses, the software being Stata Ver.11.1.

Result: Twenty-five studies with a total sample of 56610 pregnant women met the inclusion criteria.  The prevalence of anemia was estimated to be 17% (95% CI: 14-20). The highest (23%) and lowest (12%) prevalence rates were observed in the center and west of the country, respectively. The prevalence was estimated to be 21% in urban areas and 8% in the rural areas.

Conclusion: The prevalence of anemia in Iranian pregnant women has increased over the last 11 years. Therefore, appropriate intervention programs must be implemented in premarital counseling and pregnancy clinics.