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Prevalence of symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, posttraumatic stress disorder, and psychological distress among populations affected by the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis
Open accessAbstract
Objective We conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to estimate the pooled prevalence of depression, anxiety, insomnia, PTSD, and Psychological distress (PD) related to COVID-19 among affected populations.Methods We searched articles in Medline, Embase, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, Scopus, and Web of Science. Random-effects meta-analyses on the proportions of individuals with symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, PTSD, and PD were generated and between-group differences for gender, healthcare workers (HCWs), and regions where studies were conducted.Results A total of 2189 articles were screened, 136 full-text articles were assessed for eligibility. Fifty-five peer-reviewed studies met inclusion criteria for the meta-analysis (N=189,159). The prevalence of depression (k=46) was 15.97% (95%CI, 13.24-19.13). The prevalence of anxiety (k=54) was 15.15% (95%CI, 12.29-18.54). The prevalence of insomnia (k=14) was 23.87% (95%CI, 15.74-34.48). The prevalence of PTSD (k=13) was 21.94% (95%CI, 9.37-43.31). Finally, the prevalence of psychological distress (k=19) was 13.29% (95%CI, 8.80-19.57). Between-group differences were only found in HCWs (z=2.69, p < 0.05) who had a higher prevalence of insomnia than others.Conclusions Findings suggest that the short-term mental health consequences of COVID-19 are equally high across affected countries, and across gender. However, reports of insomnia are significantly higher among HCWs than the general population.
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“Insomnia complaints are two to three times higher during COVID-19 compared to prior years [4].”
From Overview of sleep management during COVID-19. (2022) · cites this paper as [4]
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“Prevalence rates of 20–45% are reported globally for insomnia symptoms during the pandemic.”
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- Moccia, 2020, Affective temperament, attachment style, and the psychological impact of the COVID-19 outbreak: an early report on the Italian general population, Brain. Behav. Immun., 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.04.048 · DOI · Paper page
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Metadata
- Authors
- Cénat, J. M., Blais-Rochette, C., Kokou-Kpolou, C. K., Noorishad, P.-G., Mukunzi, J. N., McIntee, S.-E., Dalexis, R. D., Goulet, M.-A., & Labelle, P. R.
- Affiliations
- University of Ottawa (CA)
- Corresponding author
- Cénat, Jude Mary
- ORCID
- Venue
- Psychiatry Research
- Publisher
- Elsevier BV
- Published
- 2021-01
- Volume
- 295
- Pages
- 113599
- ISSN
- 0165-1781 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC7689353
- OpenAlex
- W3108549363
- Cited by
- 952
- References
- 91
- Citations by year
- 2026: 27 · 2025: 73 · 2024: 141 · 2023: 243 · 2022: 288 · 2021: 174
- FWCI
- 14.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Psychiatry Research (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › COVID-19 and Mental Health
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Maternal Mental Health During Pregnancy and Postpartum
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Psychiatry and Mental health › Mental Health Treatment and Access
- Keywords
- COVID-19 pandemic, depression, anxiety, insomnia, post-traumatic stress disorder, psychological distress, mental health prevalence, healthcare workers, gender differences, mental health during pandemic
- MeSH terms
- Psychological Distress, COVID-19, Anxiety, Depression, Health Personnel, Humans, Sleep Initiation and Maintenance Disorders, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Prevalence
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