The Prevalence of Depression in Iranian Pregnant Women: A Meta-Analysis

Depression is a common problem during pregnancy that can endanger the health of mother and baby. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of depression in Iranian pregnant women.

This study was performed using a meta-analysis from March 21, 1999 to July 21, 2020. All scientific articles on depression in Iranian pregnant women were searched in six databases as well as Google Scholar search engine and evaluated qualitatively. The heterogeneity of the studies was checked using I2 index, the possibility of publication bias was evaluated by Egger test, and meta-regression model was used to assess variables suspected of heterogeneity at significance level of 0.05. Finally, 33 studies were analysed using CMA.

Based on the random model, the prevalence of depression in Iranian pregnant women was 10.9% (95% confidence interval: 8.2% - 14.54%). The highest prevalence was in Bonab in 2015 as 44.8% (95% confidence interval: 36.3%-53.6%) and the lowest prevalence was in Tehran in 2001 as 0.7% (95% confidence interval: 0.4%-1.3%). There was a significant relationship between year, sample size, mean age, and the prevalence of depression in Iranian pregnant women (P <0.05).

According to the results of this study, depression affects approximately one-tenth of pregnant women. Therefore, it is necessary to take actions such as exercise and psychotherapy to reduce depression in this group.