Hepatitis C Infection in the General Population of Iran: A Systematic Review

There is no overall estimate of hepatitis c infection (hcv) in iran. we reviewed all of thepublished and unpublished evidence related to hcv infection in iran in order to accurately estimate the prevalence ofhcv infection in the iranian general population to inform future health system programs.methods: in this systematic review, all papers, medical congresses, hcv-related reports, projects of iranian researchcenters and medical universities, reports from the deputy for health affairs (published or unpublished), and onlinetheses about hcv in iran were included. we selected descriptive and analytic cross-sectional studies and surveysrelated to the prevalence of hcv infection in the iranian general population between 2001 and 2008 that havesufficiently declared objectives, proper sampling methods with identical and valid measurement instruments for allstudy subjects and proper analysis methods regarding sampling design and demographic adjustments. we used asurvey data analysis method to estimate the national prevalence rate.results: from the 6,431 studies we investigated, eight eligible studies reported a prevalence of hcv infection in thegeneral population. they were from six (out of 30) provinces, in which about 43 percent of the country's populationlives. we calculated that the hcv infection prevalence rate in iran is 0.16% (95% confidence interval [ci]: 0%-0.59%).conclusions: in comparison with similar studies, the prevalence of hcv infection in iran is low. this might be a resultof having prevention programs for high-risk groups and strict blood screening programs.