An Overview of the Epidemiology of Primary Infertility in Iran

Introduction: This article compares the prevalence of primary infertility in Iranestimates provided by different studies. No other study had provided a review aboutthe researches related to epidemiology of infertility in the country.Materials and Methods: A literature review was undertaken using the scientificresources on the internet and the list of national projects obtained from Deputy ofResearch and Technology, of Iran Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOH ME) and relevant research centers. These resources were attentively reviewed to findabout national studies on the epidemiology of primary infertility in Iran during the lastdecade. Based on their design quality, the National Infertility Study (NIS) (2004-2005), National Health Survey (NHS) (2001) and Tehran Study (1997) wereconsidered for the research.Results: Current primary infertility estimated by National Health Survey (NHS) was2.8% and by National Infertility Survey (NIS) 3.4%. Tehran study and NIS estimatedthe prevalence of lifetime primary infertility to be 21.9% and 24.9%, respectively. Theminimum prevalence of lifetime primary infertility was found to be 15.8% for themarriage age of 19-27 by Tehran study and 17.2% for the marriage age of 21-26by NIS.Conclusion: On the average, 21-22% of women experience primary infertility duringtheir marital life. The best age of marriage for women in Iran seems to be 20-27 years.At this age group, the lowest number of women (16-18%) would experience primaryinfertility.