Background and Aim: Hypothyroidism is one of the most common endocrine complications in the patients with Beta thalassemia major. A simple review of the studies shows different prevalence rates of hypothyroidism in the patients with Beta thalassemia major in Iran. This meta-analysis study was performed to evaluate the prevalence of hypothyroidism in the patients with Beta thalassemia major in Iran.

Material and Methods: Using standard key words, we obtained the data from Magiran, Iran medex, IranDoc, SID, Medlib databases and also international databases including Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Google Scholar without any time limit up to December 2015. Statistical analyses were performed using random effects model by Stata Ver.11.1.

Results: We evaluated 4851 patients who had participated in 27 eligible studies (23 articles and 4 thesis). Prevalence of hypothyroidism in the patients with thalassemia major in Iran was estimated as 5.7 %( 95% CI:, 4.7-6.8). The prevalence of the overt and subclinical hypothyroidism in the patients were 3.1 %( 95% CI:, 4.1-4.8) and 6.7 % (95% CI:, 3.3- 10), respectively. The highest prevalence of hypothyroidism belonged to the north of Iran (15%).

Conclusion: We found similar prevalence rates of hypothyroidism in Iran and other reports provided by scientific resources (5-7%). Therefore, we recommend annual performance of thyroid function tests for these patients.

Keywords: Prevalence, Hypothyroidism, Thalassemia major, Systematic review, Meta-analysis, Iran.

Received: Jul 20, 2015      Accepted: Dec 20, 2015