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Original research
Incidence of psychological illness after coronavirus outbreak: a meta-analysis study
  1. Fang Cheng Fan1,
  2. Shu Yao Zhang2,
  3. Yong Cheng1,2
  1. 1 Key Laboratory of Ethnomedicine of Ministry of Education, Center on Translational Neuroscience, School of Pharmacy, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China
  2. 2 College of Life and Environmental Sciences, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China
  1. Correspondence to Professor Yong Cheng, Key Laboratory of Ethnomedicine of Ministry of Education, Center on Translational Neuroscience, School of Pharmacy, Minzu University of China, Beijing, China; yongcheng{at}muc.edu.cn

Abstract

Background The COVID-19 has had an enormous impact worldwide and is still spreading. Globally confirmed infections have surpassed 41.1 million, of which more than 1 million resulted in deaths. Considering the relationship between public health disasters and emotional disorders, it is essential to examine psychological well-being related to this pandemic.

Method We performed a systematic search on psychological problems from PubMed to 10 October 2020, and conducted a meta-analysis using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis V.3 software.

Results The results showed a 19.4% and 26.8% pooled incidence for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), respectively, during the SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)-related coronavirus outbreaks. However, overall prevalence of depression was somewhat higher at 27.0% during the COVID-19 period. The pooled incidence of PTSD during COVID-19 compared with SARS and MERS outbreaks, was lower, at 16.4%.

Conclusion The results suggest that there are shared and distinct psychological responses following SARS, MERS and COVID-19, and show pessimistic estimates of a wide range of potentially upcoming psychological problems.

  • communicable diseases
  • epidemics
  • meta analysis

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information. The data used to support the findings of this study are included within the article.

This article is made freely available for use in accordance with BMJ’s website terms and conditions for the duration of the covid-19 pandemic or until otherwise determined by BMJ. You may use, download and print the article for any lawful, non-commercial purpose (including text and data mining) provided that all copyright notices and trade marks are retained.

https://bmj.com/coronavirus/usage

https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2020-215927

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    Data availability statement

    All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as online supplemental information. The data used to support the findings of this study are included within the article.

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    Footnotes

    • FCF and SYZ are joint first authors.

    • FCF and SYZ contributed equally.

    • Contributors FCF and SYZ collected and analysed the data, prepared figures. FCF and SYZ wrote the manuscript. YC designed the research.

    • Funding This study was supported by the National Science Foundation of China (81703492), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (7182092), the Minzu University Research Fund (2018CXTD03) and the MUC 111 project.

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

    • Supplemental material This content has been supplied by the author(s). It has not been vetted by BMJ Publishing Group Limited (BMJ) and may not have been peer-reviewed. Any opinions or recommendations discussed are solely those of the author(s) and are not endorsed by BMJ. BMJ disclaims all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on the content. Where the content includes any translated material, BMJ does not warrant the accuracy and reliability of the translations (including but not limited to local regulations, clinical guidelines, terminology, drug names and drug dosages), and is not responsible for any error and/or omissions arising from translation and adaptation or otherwise.