The prevalence of physical and psychological violence during pregnancy in Iran and the world: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background and aims: Violence against women is a public health crisis, because it affects the mother and fetus simultaneously and causes undesirable consequences. This study was performed to determine the prevalence of physical and psychological violence during pregnancy in the world and Iran in systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: This study was a systematic review and meta-analysis that was conducted on the English and Persian articles published from 1990 up to 2015. In this aim by searching the information at SID, Medlib, Irandoc, Google scholar, Pubmed, ISI, Iranmedex, Scopus and Magiran, using key words the prevalence of physical and psychological violence during pregnancy in the world and Iran were extracted all related articles independently by 2 trained researchers. The results of studies combined using the STATA and Spss20 software. Results: In the initial searching of 276 articles, 46 articles related to Iran with a sample size 40457, 83 articles related to other regions of the world and totally 124 with a sample size 417832 Person relevant articles met inclusion criteria for study. The prevalence of physical violence during pregnancy was estimated in the world 18% (CI95%: 16%-19%) and in Iran 23% (CI95%: 20%-27%) and prevalence of psychological violence during pregnancy were estimated in the world 38% (CI95%:35%-41%) and in Iran 44% (CI95%: 38%-50%). Conclusion: According to the present meta-analysis results, the prevalence of physical and psychological violence during pregnancy in Iran is more than the world. Thus, it is recommended that the relevant authorities by implementation the intervention programs such as the establishment of Prevention Center for Social Damages, implementation the family education programs before marriage and pregnancy prevent of violence during pregnancy