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. 2024 Dec 23;24(1):3562.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-024-21085-5.

An umbrella review of the prevalence of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: Call to action for post-COVID-19 at the global level

Mohammad Mohseni  1 , Saber Azami-Aghdash  2 , Salman Bashzar  3 , Haleh Mousavi Isfahani  4 , Elaheh Parnian  5 , Mostafa Amini-Rarani  6
Affiliations

An umbrella review of the prevalence of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: Call to action for post-COVID-19 at the global level

Mohammad Mohseni et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: Pandemics can lead to mental health problems such as depression. This meta-analysis of meta-analyses aimed to estimate the precise prevalence of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Embase were searched for published meta-analyses using relevant keywords, such as depression, prevalence, COVID-19, and meta-analysis up to March 18, 2024 according to the PRISMA guidelines. Relevant journals as well as the search engine Google Scholar were manually searched to discover more articles. The AMSTAR tool was used for quality assessment. A random-effects model was used for the analysis. All analyses were conducted using the STATA 17 software.

Results: Of 535 records, 82 meta-analyses were included. The results showed that the overall prevalence of depression was 30% [95% CI: 29-32] with a high heterogeneity (I2: 90.98%). The highest prevalence of depression according to population group was found in medical students (40% [30-49]), specific groups (40% [3-78]), and patients (36% [27-45]). The results of meta-regression based on the different times between the start of COVID-19 and the last date of search in the articles (week) and the prevalence of depression, showed that each past week of Covid-19 increases the prevalence of depression by almost 0.00021% [95% CI: -0.00025, 0.00068], P-value: 0.36, but "time" is not a significant predictor of an increase in depression.

Conclusions: The results showed that the prevalence of depression was high during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among medical students. Policy makers should pay more attention to these groups and those who are at greater risk. Primary mental health interventions and policies are necessary to support the mental health of these individuals during the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Depression; Meta-analysis; Pandemic; Prevalence.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Not applicable. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
PRISMA flowchart
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Prevalence of depression during the COVID-19 [–102]
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Heterogeneity analysis using Galbraith plot
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Funnel plot to evaluate the possibility of publication bias
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Prevalence of depression during the COVID-19 according to groups
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Prevalence of depression according to gender
Fig. 7
Fig. 7
Prevalence of depression according to severity
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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