Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran Archives of Iranian Medicine 1029-2977 23 3 2020 03 01 Epidemiology of Hepatitis B in Iran from 2000 to 2016: A Systematic Review and Meta-Regression Analysis 189 196 EN Negar Rezaei Mohsen Asadi-Lari Ali Sheidaei Kimiya Gohari Mahboubeh Parsaeian Sara Khademioureh Mahtab Maghsoudlu Sedigheh Amini Kafiabad Maryam Zadsar Seyed Abbas Motevalian Farnaz Delavari Shifteh Abedini Farshad FarzadFar Journal Article 2019 05 14 2019 11 27 Background: Hepatitis B infection is the major risk factor for liver cancer in Iran. There is no comprehensive population-based study on the prevalence of hepatitis B by regional distribution. Moreover, systematic reviews of hepatitis B prevalence lack knowledge of some regions. We aimed to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis B and its temporal trends over 17 years by sex, age and geographical distribution. Methods: We used the Iranian Blood Donors data in addition to systematic reviews on population-based studies at national and provincial levels and statistical methods (A two-stage spatio-temporal model and crosswalk approach) to address the missing points of hepatitis B prevalence among the general population. The direct age-standardized approach was applied using Iran’s national population in 2016. Results: At national level, age-standardized hepatitis B prevalence in Iran decreased from 3.02% (95% uncertainty interval; 2.26 to 3.96) in 2000 to 1.09% (95% uncertainty interval; 0.85 to 1.37) in 2016, with a total -64.84% change. Hepatitis B prevalence was more than 1.3 times greater in males than females in 2016. Overall, the prevalence of hepatitis B increased with increasing age. At provincial level, in 2016, the province with the highest prevalence had a nearly 11-time greater rate compared to the lowest prevalence. The declining annual percent change (APC) of the prevalence trend varied between -11.53% to -0.5% at provincial level from 2000 to 2016. Only one province did not witness a downward trend in which the APC was 0.5% (95% UI:0.47-0.54). Conclusion: The downward trend in prevalence of hepatitis B infection indicates the effectiveness of strategies and preventive measures adapted in Iran. Nevertheless, we need to eradicate this infection. In this regard, re-evaluating preventive measures, especially in high-risk age groups of the population, is recommended.