شیوع علائم آسم در ایران بر اساس فراتحلیل مطالعات کشوری

Background: Asthma is the most prevalent chronic disease in the world. To quantify the national prevalence of asthma symptom, we conducted a systematic review and random effects meta-analysis. Materials and methods: After internet search for population-based estimates of Asthma prevalence in Iran, 19 papers were selected from 142 articles, dissertations and reports of research projects published between the years 1998-2003. All studies on children performed by ISAAC protocol were found. We entered the data from studies in children to NCSS software. We used funnel plot for publication bias. Results: In the 19 accepted studies on children under the age of 18 years, 61067 children had been checked by the ISAAC protocol. The lowest prevalence of asthma is 2.7% from Kerman and the highest prevalence is 35.4% from Tehran. Overall prevalence of asthma symptoms in children is 13.14%, (95% confidence interval 9.97-16.30), at the national level. Conclusion: Based on this study the prevalence of asthma symptom in Iran is higher than international norms.