Global prevalence of infertility: a systematic review and meta-analysis
of Community-based studies
Abstract
Background: The prevalence of infertility has rarely been
synthesized at the global level. Objective: To conduct a
systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the community-based global
prevalence of infertility. Search Strategy: PubMed, MEDLINE,
Web of Science, and Science Direct were searched from inception until
October 2022. Selection Criteria: Studies were included if they
were published in English, had quantitative data, and reported the
community-based prevalence of infertility. Data Collection and
Analysis: Two authors independently extracted data. Random-effects
meta-analysis was used to derive the pooled prevalence of infertility.
Variations in the prevalence estimates in different subgroups.
Univariate meta-regression was used to explore possible sources of
heterogeneity. Main Results: The findings indicated the pooled
prevalence of infertility was 12.87% (95% CI,12.41%-13.33%). The
prevalences of primary infertility and secondary infertility were 7.34%
and 6.01%, respectively. The overall prevalence of infertility among
people was the highest in Africa (16.73%) and lowest in the North
America (8.84%). Lower prevalence in cohort or prospective follow-up
studies (9.75%) than in cross-sectional studies (12.93%). Women aged
35 and above had a higher prevalence of infertility (11.68%) compared
to women below 35 years old (5.92%). The prevalence of infertility
increased with the number of years, and increased with the degree of
literature bias from low to high. Conclusions: This
community-based study estimated the global prevalence of infertility to
be 12.87% and suggested that an upward trend of the prevalence of
infertility may persist in the future.