Salari Nader, Heidarian Pegah, Abdolmaleki Amir, Salim Kani, Hashemian Seyed Hamidreza, Daneshkhah Alireza, Mohammadi Masoud
Department of Biostatistics, School of Health, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
Student Research Committee, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences, Kermanshah, Iran.
Popul Health Metr. 2025 Jun 16;23(1):25. doi: 10.1186/s12963-025-00393-x.
Single-child families represent an expanded phenomenon in recent years due to prevailing socio-economic challenges. The single childbirth phenomenon can potentially cause negative population growth and undesirable effects on families. Thus, this study aimed to determine the prevalence (percent) of single-child families with an emphasis on interfering associated factors.
For paper collection, valid databases of PubMed, Embase, ScienceDirect, Web of Science, Scopus, and Google Scholar search engine were systematically searched. All relevant studies were transferred to EndNote software (v.8) for duplicate detection. Primary and secondary screenings were applied and eligible studies enrolled for meta-analysis (CMA v.2). In this regard, the random effect model was employed and the I² index was used for heterogeneity assessment.
Following the examination of 33 studies, the prevalence (percent) of single-child families was found 41.3% (95% CI:33.1-49.9%). Meta-regression analysis revealed that following the acceleration in sample size and year of paper publication, the prevalence (percent) of single-child family increases and decreases (p < 0.05). Additionally, various influential factors effective on single-child families were listed as income status, financial difficulties, religious beliefs, educational level, and employment status.
According to the relatively high prevalence (percent) of single-child families and the influential impacts on families and communities, the findings of this study can provide valuable insights for policymakers to design appropriate policies and achieve demographic balance.
由于当前的社会经济挑战，独生子女家庭近年来成为一种普遍现象。独生子女出生现象可能会导致人口负增长以及对家庭产生不良影响。因此，本研究旨在确定独生子女家庭的患病率（百分比），并重点关注相关影响因素。
为收集文献，对PubMed、Embase、ScienceDirect、Web of Science、Scopus和谷歌学术搜索引擎的有效数据库进行了系统检索。所有相关研究都被转移到EndNote软件（v.8）中进行重复检测。进行了初筛和复筛，并纳入符合条件的研究进行荟萃分析（CMA v.2）。在此方面，采用随机效应模型，并使用I²指数进行异质性评估。
在对33项研究进行审查后，发现独生子女家庭的患病率（百分比）为41.3%（95%置信区间：33.1 - 49.9%）。荟萃回归分析显示，随着样本量和论文发表年份的增加，独生子女家庭的患病率（百分比）呈现上升和下降趋势（p < 0.05）。此外，对独生子女家庭有影响的各种因素包括收入状况、经济困难、宗教信仰、教育水平和就业状况。
鉴于独生子女家庭的患病率（百分比）相对较高以及对家庭和社区的影响，本研究结果可为政策制定者制定适当政策和实现人口平衡提供有价值的见解。
