Abstract

Background: Peptic ulcer was a common disease with the symptoms of epigastria pain and heartburn. Since, literature regarding peptic ulcer was questionable and different, the aim of present study was to evaluate the prevalence of peptic ulcers using the systematic review and meta-analysis methods. Materials and Methods: In this study 6 Iranian papers in the range of 2002 to 2012 were selected and used valid keywords in the SID, Goggle scholar and Elsevier databases and heterogeneously of the sample were obtained used the I2 index. Results: In this research, 751 people were studied with an average of 125 persons per each study while 6 articles used in the meta-analysis. The prevalence of peptic ulcers in women was 30 with 95 confidence intervals (41-19), p=0.000 (significant level) and I2 index of 89.6. Moreover, the prevalence of peptic ulcers in men was 60 with 95 confidence intervals (67-53), p = 0.051 and I2 index of 54.7. The overall incidence of peptic ulcers was 41 with 95 confidence intervals (47-36), p =0.222 and I2 index of 28.4. Conclusion: The prevalence of peptic ulcers was 41 and 6-15 in Iran and the rest of the world, respectively. Although, the rate of prevalence was increased annually; this prevalence was 60 and 30 for men and women, respectively indicating that men were more vulnerable to peptic ulcers than women. A major reason for this result could be attributed to this fact that men smoke and smoke quitting was suggested for men.