Background & Aim: Worldwide prevalence of infertility has been reported to be 3-7% of all
couples. There are varieties among the results of studies conducted on the prevalence of infertility in
Iran. The present study aimed to evaluate the trend of infertility using meta-analysis method in Iran.
Methods & Materials: We systematically reviewed all published papers in Medline database of the
National Library of Medicine and their Persian equivalents (2001–2011). Findings which met the
inclusion criteria were included. Random effects meta-analysis was applied to the data of 13 selected
populations. Data manipulation and statistical analyses were performed using STATA.
Results: Overall, 13 studies met our inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of infertility was
13.2% (95% CI: 8-18.3). The pooled prevalence of primary and secondary infertility were reported
to be 5.2% (95% CI: 3.7 - 6.6) and 3.2% (95%CI: 2 - 4.4), respectively. The lowest and highest frequency
of lifetime prevalence of infertility was 2.8% in 2001 and 24.9% in 2010, respectively. Meta-regression
scatter plot showed an increasing trend in the prevalence of infertility during 2001-
2011 (P = 0.58). Meta-regression did not indicate a significant correlation between the sample sizes
and the prevalence of infertility (P = 0.64).
Conclusion: The pooled infertility prevalence in Iran is higher than its mean worldwide, and lifetime
infertility is increasing in recent years compared to the past in Iran.