Achievements of the PERSIAN Birth Cohorts: A Systematic Review

Background: Birth cohort studies are a subset of cohort studies in which a group of individuals is followed over time. Information about the number of published articles derived from these studies, as well as their research areas, is crucial for facilitating effective collaboration among the PERSIAN birth cohort centers, enabling data sharing and pooling. Objectives: This study reviews achievements of the ongoing PERSIAN birth cohort centers. Methods: This systematic review was conducted on international and Iranian databases between January 2016 and November 2024. The search strategies on Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) were as follows: “Iran” and “birth cohort.” The included data were names of authors, location of birth cohort center, year of publication, type of study, language, title of study, and area of research. The research topics of the studies were divided into five categories. Results: This review included 42 studies from an initial set of 408 studies. The findings of this study showed that the number of scientific articles has increased since its inception. Approximately 93% of all articles were published in English, while the remaining were published in Persian. Most published articles were carried out individually with an observational study design. Environmental and occupational exposures were the most prevalent research area among the five birth cohorts (42.85%). The majority of the birth cohort studies focused on the field of maternal health. Conclusions: Environmental and occupational exposures were the most common research area among the five PERSIAN birth cohorts. The findings also revealed that most studies were carried out individually; therefore, collaboration between the five PERSIAN birth cohort centers is recommended for future research to identify the distinct cultural, genetic, and environmental factors that impact health outcomes.