Prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Iran: A systematic review and meta

The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the Iranian community is very high. Women and older people are at the higher risk of vitamin D deficiency. This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in Iran by combining the results of various studies. This was a systematic review and meta-analysis. Separate strategies were developed for search in national databases (Irandoc, Magiran, SID) and international databases (Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus) using the keywords of “vitamin D deficiency,” “Iran,” and “prevalence.” The titles and abstracts of the articles were screened and related full texts were appraised. Those articles that met inclusion criteria were selected for meta-analysis. The heterogeneity of the articles was assessed via the Chi-square test. They were combined using the random-effect approach. In addition, the groups were categorized and analyzed in terms of age and gender. Of 639 articles, 30 articles with a sample size of 26,042 people were included for data analysis. The overall prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was reported as 0.56. Subgroup analysis showed that 0.64 of women and 0.44 of men were suffering from vitamin D deficiency. The prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in the age groups under 20, 20–50, and over 50 years was 0.56.4, 0.72.4, and 0.59.8, respectively. The Iranian Ministry of Health is expected to design strategies to improve the status of vitamin D at the national level