Mental Health of Healthcare Workers during COVID-19 Pandemic: Systematic Review and Meta-analysis

Outbreaks of infectious diseases, such as COVID-19, can lead to psychological distress and symptoms of mental illness, especially among healthcare workers (HCWs) who are at high risk of contracting the infection. This current crisis, in particular, adversely affects mental health due to the rapid spread of the infection from person to person and the uncertainty underlying the treatment guidelines, preventative measures, and the expected duration of its prevalence, which could affect the psychological, emotional, and behavioral symptoms. The purpose of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to identify, evaluate, summarize and analyze the findings of all relevant individual studies conducted to assess mental health symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, it aimed to identify any gaps in the literature, which could identify the potential for future research.

This PRISMA systematic review and meta-analysis on SCOPUS, Web of Science, Google Scholar, PubMed, and Science Direct stated from 11^th Feb, 2021 to 11^th March, 2022. Following the search to identify relevant literature, one author in the article evaluated the studies in relation to the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The systematic review included 31 studies, the meta-analysis of anxiety prevalence analyzed 20 studies and the meta-analysis of severe anxiety prevalence assessed 13 studies.

As per the results that were obtained, for HCW, the most prevalent mental health symptoms were sleep disturbance, depression and anxiety, with a prevalence level of 42.9%, 77.6% and 86.5%, respectively. As per the pooled analysis, anxiety prevalence was recorded as 49% (95%CI, 0.36- 0.62), while for severe anxiety, the number dropped to 8% (95%CI, 0.05–0.10). The highest pooled prevalence of anxiety was observed in Turkey at 60% (95%CI, 0.51- 0.70). Alternatively, the lowest pooled prevalence was observed in China, 36% (95%CI, 0.23–0.50) and India, 36% (95%CI, 0.13–0.62). Based on the review of the relevant articles, a few methodological gaps were identified (i.e., Population of the studies and countries).

This study’s review and meta-analysis provide relevant information pertaining to the mental health status of healthcare workers across the world in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. They experience and endure high levels of mental health symptoms, and thus, it is necessary to provide them with mental and psychological support in this context.