The Prevalence of Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Iranian Children and Adult Population: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Soheil  Hassanipour; Ehsan  Amini-Salehi; Farahnaz  Joukar; Mohammad-Javad  Khosousi; Farideh  Pourtaghi; Malek Moein  Ansar; Marjan    Mahdavi-Roshan; Forough  Heidarzad; Golnaz  Rashidi-Mojdehi; Elham  Abdzadeh; Azin  Vakilpour; Fariborz  Mansour-Ghanaei

doi:10.18502/ijph.v52i8.13399

Soheil Hassanipour Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Ehsan Amini-Salehi Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Farahnaz Joukar Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Mohammad-Javad Khosousi Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Farideh Pourtaghi Faculty of Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
Malek Moein Ansar Department of Biochemistry, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Marjan Mahdavi-Roshan Cardiovascular Diseases Research Center, Department of Cardiology, Heshmat Hospital, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Forough Heidarzad Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Golnaz Rashidi-Mojdehi Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Elham Abdzadeh Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Azin Vakilpour School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran
Fariborz Mansour-Ghanaei Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases Research Center, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran

DOI: https://doi.org/10.18502/ijph.v52i8.13399

Keywords: Epidemiology; Prevalence; Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease; Systematic review; Meta-analysis; Iran

Abstract

Background: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the world's most common etiology of chronic liver disease. In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we estimated the prevalence of NAFLD in the Iranian children and adult population.

Methods: A comprehensive search of five international databases, including PubMed, ISI/WOS, ProQuest, Scopus, and Google Scholar, was done from inception to Nov 2022. Studies on NAFLD patients and their risk factors were selected for meta-analysis. The quality of the included studies was assessed by The Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) Critical Appraisal Checklist for cross-sectional, and cohort studies. The heterogeneity between studies was investigated using Cochran test and I² statistics. Random and fixed effect models were used for heterogenic and non-heterogenic studies, respectively. We used Comprehensive Meta-Analysis version 3 for conducting meta-analysis.

Results: Twenty studies were finally included. The total prevalence of NAFLD in children, boys, and girls was 6.7% (95% CI: 0.02-0.18), 12.5% (95% CI: 0.04-0.29) and, 10.1% (95% CI: 0.04-0.21), respectively. The total prevalence of NAFLD in obese children, obese boys, and obese girls was 42% (95% CI: 0.18-0.69), 44% (95% CI: 0.13-0.80), and 33 % (95% CI: 0.13-0.62), respectively. The total prevalence of NAFLD in adults was 36.9% (95% CI: 0.31-0.42). The prevalence of NAFLD in men and women was 33.8% (95% CI: 0.27-0.41) and 29.9% (95% CI: 0.21-0.40), respectively.

Conclusion: NAFLD prevalence in Iranian adults and obese children is considerable; however, data about the children population was insufficient.