Depression and anxiety among doctors during the Covid-19 pandemic
Citation: Johns G, Samuel V, Freemantle L, et al. The global prevalence of depression and anxiety among doctors during the covid-19 pandemic: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Journal of Affective Disorders. 2022;298:431–41.
Language: Abstract available in EN. Full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: This review was funded by NHS Wales.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies on the prevalence of depression and anxiety among doctors during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The authors searched in March 2021 for articles published in English. They included 55 studies from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and South America, in which 31,447 doctors were assessed for depression and 33,281 for anxiety. This systematic review was registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42021228667.
What was found: A substantial number of doctors had symptoms of depression (20.5%) and anxiety (25.8%) during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic; however, these rates were not conclusively more than before the pandemic.
Implications: The authors of the review stated that the findings may help to guide support for doctors during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, and to prepare for other crises.
Other considerations: The authors of the review did not discuss their findings in the context of issues relating to health equity.
This summary was prepared by Jade di Girolama, checked by Sydney Johnson, and finalized by William Summerskill.