Women’s Social Health and Related Factors in Iran: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Abstract

Women’s health is the foundation of society’s health and it can be achieved only by addressing all aspects of their health. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the prevalence of social health of Iranian women and related factors. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) was used for reporting; the terms “social health,” “women,” “Iran,” and related keywords were searched in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, PsychoInfo, ProQuest and local databases, SID, Magiran, Irandoc, Elmnet, and Noormags up to August 2022. The published English or Persian quantitative primary studies which were conducted in Iran and reported social health or its dimensions among Iranian women were included. The studies were assessed by quality assessment tool for observational cohort and cross-sectional studies developed by National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute. From the 786 studies retrieved, 22 studies were finally included surveying different groups of women. Age, marital status, education, employment, socioeconomic status, social support, social participation, social trust, social security, communication skills, and self-esteem were the factors affecting women’s social health. Five studies entered meta-analysis and mean score of social health was 98.54 (95% CI: 87.56–109.51) and it was the lowest among women who were the head of households. Since women’s social health has been less considered in the society and research studies, further policies, legislations, and capacity building in mentioned fields are necessary. As social health is an important aspect of health, it is necessary for governments to address the known determinants of women’s social health in order to plan and promote the health of women, family, and finally society.