Background and aims: Hypogonadism is one of the most common endocrine complications in
patients with thalassemia major. A simple review of studies show different hypogonadism
prevalence and has been reported between 31.3-88% in Iranian patients with thalassemia major.
So, this meta-analysis study was conducted to determine the hypogonadism prevalence in Iranian
patients with thalassemia major.
Methods: This study was conducted based on PRISMA checklist for systematic review and
meta-analysis studies. A comprehensive search by two researchers was conducted according to
MESH keywords in databases such as Magiran, Iranmedex, SID, Medlib, IranDoc, Scopus,
PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane, Embase, Springer, Online Library Wiley and also search
engine Google Scholar. Then, all articles were examined without any time limited until October
2015. Data were analyzed using random effects model and Stata ver. 11.1 software.
Results: Sixteen studies involving 2938 patients with average age of 17.34 were identified to
analyze in the meta-analysis. Hypogonadism prevalence in patients with thalassemia major in Iran
has been estimated 42.3% (CI 95%: 30.7-53.8). Minimum and maximum prevalence in Iran were
related to the center (41%) and east (45%), respectively. Hypogonadism prevalence in male and
female patients was 49% and 45.2%, respectively. There was no significant relationship between
hypogonadism prevalence and year of the study and sample size.
Conclusion: The prevalence of hypogonadism in Iranian patients with thalassemia major is high
and it is needed to perform a continuous and regular plan and follow up for these patients
