Prevalence of Conduct Disorder in the Middle East: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocol

Background: The global burden of conduct disorder is a major public health concern. Although there are different reports on the prevalence of conduct disorder in different Middle Eastern countries, to date, no research has reviewed them. Therefore, we aimed to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the literature and present the prevalence of conduct disorder among children and adolescents in Middle Eastern countries. Methods: Those cross-sectional studies with any type of random or non-random sampling, which described the prevalence of conduct disorder prior to age of 18, for at least one gender in the general or school-based populations who resided in Middle Eastern countries were included in this review. The scientific databases of PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, Index Medicus for the Eastern Mediterranean Region (IMEMR), Islamic World Science Citation Center (ISC), and Grey Literature including conference proceedings, and hand searching of key journals were searched from 1995 to the end of 2014. Two reviewers assessed the quality of the included studies independently and extracted the relevant data. Discussion: This review provided a picture of different frequencies of conduct disorder in Middle Eastern countries and analyzed the sources of heterogeneity. Systematic Review Registration: PROSPERO CRD42014014996