Burden of predominant psychological reactions among the healthcare workers and general population during COVID-19 pandemic phase: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Aim: Present systematic review and meta-analysis examined the burden of psychological reactions predominantly anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia during the novel COVID-19 pandemic phase among the frontline healthcare, nonfrontline healthcare, and general population. Material and Methods: PubMed, EMBASE, and SCOPUS were searched for studies between January 1, 2020, and May 25, 2020. Brief protocol of the systematic review was registered with the PROSPERO database, (CRD42020186229). Any study that reported the burden of at least one of psychological reactions including anxiety or depression or stress or insomnia was eligible. Heterogeneity was assessed using I2 statistic and results were synthesized using random-effect meta-analysis. Results: Out of 49 eligible studies, 41 databases from 37 studies reported anxiety, 39 databases (35 studies) reported depression, 20 studies reported stress and 12 databases from 11 studies reported insomnia. The overall prevalence for anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia was 26.3%, 25.9%, 26.2%, and 31.3%, respectively. Prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia were found highest among the frontline healthcare as compared to general healthcare workers and the general population. Conclusion: Anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia were more prevalent among frontline health-care workers compared to general. Such increased prevalence is prompting toward the global mental health emergency. Therefore, a call of urgent attention and pan-region effective mental-health intervention are required to mitigate these psychological reactions.