Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Meta-Analysis
. 2021 Feb 15:281:91-98.
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2020.11.117. Epub 2020 Dec 3.

Prevalence of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Tianchen Wu  1 , Xiaoqian Jia  2 , Huifeng Shi  1 , Jieqiong Niu  1 , Xiaohan Yin  1 , Jialei Xie  1 , Xiaoli Wang  3
Affiliations
Meta-Analysis

Prevalence of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Tianchen Wu et al. J Affect Disord. .

Abstract

Background: The global COVID-19 pandemic has generated major mental and psychological health problems worldwide. We conducted a meta-analysis to assess the prevalence of depression, anxiety, distress, and insomnia during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: We searched online biomedical databases (PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Ovid, CNKI, and Wanfang Data) and preprint databases (SSRN, bioRxiv, and MedRxiv) for observational studies from January 1, 2020 to March 16, 2020 investigating the prevalence of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: We retrieved 821 citations from the biomedical databases and 53 citations from the preprint databases: 66 studies with 221,970 participants were included in our meta-analysis. The overall pooled prevalence of depression, anxiety, distress, and insomnia was 31.4%, 31.9%, 41.1% and 37.9%, respectively. Noninfectious chronic disease patients, quarantined persons, and COVID-19 patients had a higher risk of depression (Q=26.73, p<0.01) and anxiety (Q=21.86, p<0.01) than other populations. The general population and non-medical staff had a lower risk of distress than other populations (Q=461.21, p< 0.01). Physicians, nurses, and non-medical staff showed a higher prevalence of insomnia (Q=196.64, p<0.01) than other populations.

Limitations: All included studies were from the early phase of the global pandemic. Additional meta-analyses are needed to obtain more data in all phases of the pandemic.

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic increases the mental health problems of the global population, particularly health care workers, noninfectious chronic disease patients, COVID-19 patients, and quarantined persons. Interventions for mental health are urgently needed for preventing mental health problems.

Keywords: Anxiety; COVID-19; Depression; Distress; Insomnia; Systemic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
PRISMA Flowchart of citations selection
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Addis A., Genazzani A., Trotta M.P., Magrini N. Ann Intern Med; 2020. Promoting Better Clinical Trials and Drug Information as Public Health Interventions for the COVID-19 Emergency in Italy. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ali I. The COVID-19 Pandemic: Making Sense of Rumor and Fear. Medical anthropology. 2020;39:376–379. - PubMed
    1. Bao Y., Sun Y., Meng S., Shi J., Lu L. Vol. 395. Lancet; London, England: 2020. pp. e37–e38. (2019-nCoV epidemic: address mental health care to empower society). - PMC - PubMed
    1. Beaglehole B., Mulder R.T., Frampton C.M., Boden J.M., Newton-Howes G., Bell C.J. Psychological distress and psychiatric disorder after natural disasters: systematic review and meta-analysis. The British journal of psychiatry: the journal of mental science. 2018;213:716–722. - PubMed
    1. Benbir G., Demir A.U., Aksu M., Ardic S., Firat H., Itil O., Ozgen F., Yılmaz H., Karadeniz D. Prevalence of insomnia and its clinical correlates in a general population in Turkey. Psychiatry and clinical neurosciences. 2015;69:543–552. - PubMed