Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a disabling disease and is recognised as a serious, public health concern. In this study, we aimed to determine the burden and trends of MDD in Iran.

Secondary data from the Global Burden of Disease study were used to analyse the time trend and geographical distribution of age-standardised rate incidence and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) of MDD from 1990 to 2021 by sex and province, in Iran. Join point regression and ArcGIS software were used for these estimations.

Incidence and DALYs.

The trend analysis from 1990 to 2021 generally showed an increasing trend of incidence and DALYs. The highest annual percent change (APC) for incidence (6.594 95% UI: 3.727, 9.473) and DALYs (6.396 95% UI: 3.552, 9.286) of MDD in Iran was observed from 2019 to 2021 segment. Also, the geographical distribution analysis showed that the highest average annual percent change (AAPC) for incidence and DALYs of MDD in both sexes was, respectively, in Kurdistan province (0.774; [95% UI: 0.619, 0.976] and Yazd province (0.760; [95% UI: 0.601, 0.918]). Finally, the highest incidence and DALYs for MDD in 2021 were in Kerman and Fars provinces and the lowest in East Azarbayejan, Lorestan, Hamedan, Chahar Mahal and Bakhtiari, Golestan and Khorasan-e-Razavi provinces.

The findings of this study indicate an increasing trend in the burden of MDD in Iran and show the necessity of creating national policies and preventive and therapeutic measures for mental health disorders in the population.