Hemoglobin, 2013; 37(2): 124–137 Copyright © Informa Healthcare USA, Inc. ISSN: 0363-0269 print/1532-432X online DOI: 10.3109/03630269.2013.772062 ORIGINAL ARTICLE SECULAR TRENDS IN THE NATIONAL AND PROVINCIAL BIRTHS OF NEW THALASSEMIA CASES IN IRAN FROM 2001 TO 2006 Mahmoud Hadipour Dehshal, 1 Alireza Ahmadvand, 2 Sakineh Yousefi Darestani, 1 Mohsen Manshadi, 1 and Hassan Abolghasemi 3 1 Blood Transfusion Research Centre, High Institute for Research and Education in Transfusion Medicine, Tehran, Iran 2 Research Centre for Rational Use of Drugs, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3 Shabid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Û Thalassemia is one of the genetic diseases for which there are only a few successful prevention protocols. In this study, we aimed to analyze data for thalassemia newborns in a period of 6 years to find out the geographical distribution of cases, the “high-risk” provinces in Iran, the causes of thalassemia newborn cases, the coverage rate of the prevention programs and the limitations of the thalassemia registration system. To further our aim, an analytic cross-sectional study was designed at the Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO), Tehran, Iran. A questionnaire was then prepared to gather data from each of the 30 provincial centers to find out the number and causes of thalassemia births. Furthermore, another questionnaire, to be completed by the physicians in charge, was aimed at gathering data from all 207 thalassemia care centers. We then performed a stratified analysis of the frequency of distributions; the associations among the existing variables were evaluated using the χ 2 or Fisher’s exact tests at a 5.0% significance level. According to the findings, from 2001–2006, a total of 2091 thalassemia patients were born. The main causes were: the at-risk couples not using prenatal diagnosis (PND), marriages before the commencement of Iranian prevention plans, unregistered marriages based on religious conventions, among foreign citizens and the existence of some test errors. The causes of birth for 284 (13.6%) of new cases were not documented. There was a statistically significant difference between the five high-risk provinces regarding the proportional causes of thalassemia newborns [Pearson χ 2 ¼ 4.549; degree of freedom (df) ¼ 8, p value ¼ 0.0001]. Although the plan succeeded in avoiding the annual birth of 826 new cases on average, there is continuing concern that more than 300 new cases were born every year during 2001–2006 and new Received 16 May 2012; Accepted 19 October 2012. Address correspondence to Dr. Mahmoud Hadipour Dehshal, Iranian Blood Transfusion Organization (IBTO) Research Centre, 9th Floor, IBTO Main Building, Hemmat Expressway, Tehran, Iran; Tel.: þ982188601582; Fax: 982188601580; E-mail: mehregan_hadipour@yahoo.com 124 Hemoglobin Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by 31.59.130.169 on 03/07/13 For personal use only.