Prevalence of depression among Iranian children and adolescents: An updated systematic review and meta‐analysis

Abstract

Background and AimsOne of the most common mental disorders among children and adolescent is depression. Some of the conducted studies indicate a too‐high prevalence of depression, which cannot be generalized to the entire country. So the pooled estimation of the results of different studies is very important to reach valid results. So the current study aimed to determine the prevalence of depression among Iranian children and adolescents using an updated systematic review and meta‐analysis.MethodsA random‐effects model was used to estimate the pooled prevalence of depression (I2 = 99.7% and Cochran's Q, p < 0.001). To assess the effect of different factors on heterogeneity, the univariate meta‐regression model was used. Publication bias was evaluated by Beggs and Eggers tests as well as funnel plots. Data were analyzed by STATA v 11 (StataCorp.). The significance level of the tests was considered less than 0.05.ResultsThe prevalence of depression was 33.3% (95% CI: 27.3−39.2). The most prevalence estimated using the Beak questionnaire (57.1% [95% CI: 50.2−64.0]) and the lowest was estimated using the K‐SADS‐PL (9.0% [95% CI: 4.0−13.6]). This estimate among females was more than among males (47.2% [95% CI: 35.4−58.9] vs. 30.5 [95% CI: 7.4−53.6]). Regarding the geographical region, the most and the lowest amount of depression was seen in the central with 41.7% (95% CI: 19.2−64.3) and southern region with 21.9% (95% CI: 14.2−29.6), respectively.ConclusionThe high prevalence of depressive disorders in Iranian children emphasizes the importance of prevention measures for these disorders.

Validity and Reliability Assessment of the Complete Persian Version of the Temperament Evaluation of Memphis, Pisa, Paris, and San Diego Auto-Questionnaire in an Iranian Population

“…Iran is in need of assessment tools that are accurate and culturally appropriate to address the high rates of mood disorders in the population. The prevalence of depressive disorders among Iranian children and adolescents is 33.3%, signifying the critical need for effective assessment and intervention methods ( 32 ). Therefore, this study was conducted to assess the validity and reliability of the complete Persian version of the TEMPS-A in an Iranian population.…”