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
. 2025 Nov 18;25(1):4022.
doi: 10.1186/s12889-025-24922-3.

The prevalence of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic: an umbrella review

Mostafa Amini-Rarani  1 , Sepideh Rezaei  2 , Saber Azami-Aghdash  3 , Salman Bashzar  1 , Shahideh Allahverdi  2 , Mohammad Mohseni  4
Affiliations

The prevalence of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic: an umbrella review

Mostafa Amini-Rarani et al. BMC Public Health. .

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused widespread mental health problems, with stress affecting a large porportion of the global population. To provide a comprehensive understanding of the need for post-pandemic mental health services, this umbrella review was conducted to accurately estimate the prevalence of stress during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and Embase were searched for published meta-analyses using relevant keywords, such as prevalence, stress, COVID-19, and Meta-analysis up to January 1, 2025. Additional manual searches were performed in selected journals and through Google Scholar to identify further relevant articles. A random-effects model was used for the analyses. All analyses were conducted using STATA 17 software.

Results: Of 3697 records screened, 45 meta-analyses were included. The pooled prevalence of stress was 41% [95% CI: 36–45] with high heterogeneity (I2: 93.22%). The highest prevalence was observed in patients (56% [49–63]) and health-care workers (45% [38–52]). The prevalence of stress was higher in females (40% [18–63]) compared with males (27% [3–50]). In terms of severity, the highest percentage was related to moderate 29% [7–50], mild 24% [6–41], and severe 13% [5–21].

Conclusions: Stress was highly prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among patients, healthcare workers, pregnant womens, and students. Policy responses should prioritize funding, advocacy and system-level interventions to mitigate the mental health impact of pandemics and strengthen resilience in preparation for future public health crises.

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

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: Te Institutional Review Board and the Ethics Committee of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences approved this study (IR.MUI.NUREMA.REC.1404.056). 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 stress during the COVID-19 according to the subgroups
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Prevalence of stress according to the groups
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Heterogeneity analysis using Galbraith plot
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Funnel plot to evaluate the possibility of publication bias
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Perez-Cano HJ, Moreno-Murguia MB, Morales-Lopez O, Crow-Buchanan O, English JA, Lozano-Alcazar J et al. Anxiety, depression, and stress in response to the coronavirus disease-19 pandemic. 2020;88(5):562–8. - PubMed
    1. Mohseni M, Azami-Aghdash S, Bashzar S, Mousavi Isfahani H, Parnian E, Amini-Rarani MJBPH. An umbrella review of the prevalence of depression during the COVID-19 pandemic: call to action for post-COVID-19 at the global level. 2024;24(1):3562. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Cooke JE, Eirich R, Racine N, Madigan S. Prevalence of posttraumatic and general psychological stress during COVID-19: A rapid review and meta-analysis. Psychiatry Res. 2020;292:113347. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Tan W, Hao F, McIntyre RS, Jiang L, Jiang X, Zhang L et al. Is returning to work during the COVID-19 pandemic stressful? A study on immediate mental health status and psychoneuroimmunity prevention measures of Chinese workforce. 2020;87:84–92. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Khan AH, Sultana MS, Hossain S, Hasan MT, Ahmed HU, Sikder MTJJ. The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health & wellbeing among home-quarantined Bangladeshi students: A cross-sectional pilot study. 2020;277:121–8. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources