Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and previous pandemics, epidemics and economic crises on mental health: systematic review

BJPsych Open

article

Michaela Asper¹  Walter Osika²  Christina Dalman¹  Elin Pöllänen⁴  Otto Simonsson²  Pär Flodin¹  Anna Sidorchuk²  Laura Marchetti⁵  Fatima Awil⁵  Rosa Castro⁶  Maria E. Niemi¹ 

[1] Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet;Centre for Psychiatry Research, Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet;and Stockholm Health Care Services;Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet;Mental Health Europe;Federation of European Academies of Medicine

关键词: COVID-19;    suicide;    depressive disorders;    anxiety disorders;    epidemiology;   

DOI  :  10.1192/bjo.2022.587

学科分类：计算机科学（综合）

来源: Canadian Society For Pharmaceutical Sciences (Csps).

【 摘 要 】

Background A rise in mental illness is expected to follow the COVID-19 pandemic, which has also been projected to lead to a deep globaleconomic recession, further adding to risk factors.AimsThe aim of this review was to assess the impact of the COVID-19pandemic and previous pandemics, epidemics and economiccrises on mental health.MethodSearches were conducted in PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFOand Sociological Abstracts. We included studies of all populations exposed to the COVID-19 pandemic, and other similarpandemics/epidemics and economic crises, compared withnon-exposed time periods or regions. The outcome was mentalhealth.ResultsThe 174 included studies assessed mental health impacts of theCOVID-19 pandemic (87 studies), 2008 economic crisis (84 studies) and severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic(three studies). Outcomes were divided into affective disorders,suicides, mental healthcare utilisation and other mental health.COVID-19 pandemic studies were of lesser quality than those forthe economic crisis or SARS epidemic. Most studies for allexposures showed increases in affective disorders and othermental health problems. For economic crisis exposure,increases in mental healthcare utilisation and suicides were alsofound, but these findings were mixed for COVID-19 pandemicexposure. This is probably because of quarantine measuresaffecting help-seeking and shorter follow-ups of studies ofCOVID-19 pandemic exposure.ConclusionsOur findings highlight the importance of available, accessible andsustainable mental health services. Also, socioeconomicallydisadvantaged populations should be particular targets of policyinterventions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

【 授权许可】

CC BY|CC BY-NC-SA|CC BY-NC-ND