Mental health symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic
Citation: Sun Y, Wu Y, Fan S, et al. Comparison of mental health symptoms before and during the covid-19 pandemic: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis of 134 cohorts. British Medical Journal. 2023;380:e074224.
Language: Abstract and full text available in EN.
Free to view: Yes.
Funding sources: Canadian Institutes of Health Research and McGill Interdisciplinary Initiative in Infection and Immunity Emergency COVID-19 Research Fund.
What is this? In this systematic review, the authors searched for studies published since 2020 in any language that compared general mental health, anxiety, and depression symptoms before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. They searched in April 2022 and found 137 studies with data from 134 cohorts. This systematic review was registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42020179703.
What was found? The authors found no changes among the general population in mental health or anxiety symptoms, and only slightly worsened depression symptoms. Mental health, anxiety, and depression symptoms worsened by minimal to small amounts among women.
Implications: The authors stated that while the finding of minimal changes in mental health symptoms may reflect people’s resilience during difficult times and the relative success of government support programmes, this study also identifies gaps in mental health surveillance. Additional emphasis should be placed on surveillance of specific cohorts within the population, as they may experience different mental health issues.
Other considerations: The authors of the review discussed their findings in the context of socioeconomic status, sex, and gender.
This summary was prepared by Eszter Szocs, checked by Grace Meng, and finalized by William Summerskilll.