Abstract

Background: Glaucoma is a late-onset incurable disease and the major cause of incurable blindness in the world. Since Iran is in Asia, and has the highest number of glaucoma patients in the world, the disease should be followed in a particular manner. Purpose: The present systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted with the aim of evaluating the prevalence of glaucoma in Iran. Methods: The prevalence of glaucoma is defined using international criteria and measured as the main outcome. Study selection, data extraction, and quality assessment were performed by two independent reviewers. PubMed, EMBASE, ISI Web of science, Scopus and national databases (SID, MAGIRAN) were searched for observational studies which evaluated the prevalence of glaucoma in the Iranian population from 1995 to July 2017. The meta-analysis method was used to estimate the overall prevalence. Hoy j tools were used for the quality assessment of studies. Results: Of the 199 studies evaluated, 24 studies included meta-analysis. In 2017, the pooled overall prevalence of glaucoma in 35596 people was 3.75 (95 CI: 3.12, 4.37, I-2=96.16). Based on the sub-group analysis in the random effect method, the prevalence of glaucoma in males and females were 3.57 (95 CI: 2.83, 4.32), and 2.52 (95 CI: 2.39, 3.27). Conclusion: Considering the high prevalence of glaucoma in Iran relative to regional and global standards, these findings can be used by health policymakers as the basis for planning decisions for the prevention, treatment, and examination of glaucoma patients in Iran.