Abstract

Context: Depression is a common problem during pregnancy. Depression has several adverse effects on the mother and infant. Evidence Acquisition: The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of depression in pregnant women in Iran. This study was performed based on the Preferred Reporting Items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. We searched the literature in the national and international databases, including Magiran, Barakat knowledge network system, SID, RICST, Iranian National Library, IranDoc, Scopus, PubMed, Elsevier (Science Direct, Embase, and Scopus), Web of Science (ISI), and Google Scholar using Persian and English (MeSH) keywords. Cochran's Q test and I-2 index were used to assess the heterogeneity between studies. A random-effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence using comparative meta-analysis software ver. 2. Results: Forty studies containing 15,870 Iranian pregnant women were included in the Meta-analysis. The heterogeneity of the studies was estimated to be high (I2 = 99.70, P < 0.001). The prevalence of depression was estimated to be 41.22 (95 CI: 33.88 - 48.96). The prevalence of mild, moderate, and severe depression was estimated to be 23.71 (95 CI: 16.39 - 33.01), 10.67 (95 CI: 7.02 - 15.98), and 4.30 (95 CI: 2.33 - 7.80), respectively. The lowest and highest depression prevalence was estimated in the West of Iran (34.41 95% CI: 17.38 - 56.67) and the South of Iran (51.69% 95% CI: 37.32 - 65.78), respectively, and the test result for subgroup analysis was not significant (P = 0.60). Based on the subgroup analysis, the prevalence of depression in the first, second, and third trimester of pregnancy was estimated to be 50.52% (95% CI: 39.91 - 61.08), 44.96% (95% CI: 26.92 - 64.42), and 48.33% (95% CI: 36.64 - 60.20), respectively, and the test result for subgroup analysis was not significant (P = 0.11). Most of the studies (57.5%) used the Beck's questionnaire to survey the prevalence of depression in pregnant Iranian women and the prevalence of depression according to this questionnaire was estimated to be 45.84% (95% CI: 35.47 - 56.60). Conclusions: According to the high prevalence of depression in pregnant Iranian woman, identification and treatment of depression during pregnancy seem essential. Thus, program designing and implementation are recommended for improving the psychological health of pregnant women.