A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on the Prevalence of Low Birth Weight Infants in Iran.

Background: Low birth weight is a significant index for survival, intrauterine growth, and mortality in infants. Thus, this study is aimed at determining the prevalence of low birth weight in Iranian infants through a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Methods: This study was performed by meta-analysis from January 2000 to December 2019. The studies relevant to the topic have been obtained through search in databases of Scopus, ScienceDirect, SID, Magiran, Barakat Knowledge Network System, Medline (PubMed), and Google Scholar. Heterogeneity of the studies has been assessed by the I ² index, and data analysis was done using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software.

Results: By investigating 14 articles and 93924 infants, the total prevalence of low birth weight in infants in Iran was achieved at 8.5% (95% CI: 7.3-9.9%) according to the meta-analysis; the most prevalence of low birth weight was in infants in Hamedan at 19.1% (95% CI: 21.2-17.2%) in 2007, and the lowest prevalence of low birth weight was in infants in Tonekabon at 4.2% (95% CI: 3.4-5.2%) in 2005, and also, by increasing the sample size, the prevalence of low birth weight increases, by which the difference is statistically significant (P < 0.05).

Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of low birth weight in infants in Iran, health policy-makers must take effective attempts in order to reduce it in infants.