Mental Health Problems and Educational Guidance of Medical Students After the Outbreak of COVID-19: A Meta-analysis

Abstract

The outbreak of COVID-19 has had a significant influence on medical students, which resulted in various psychological health problems. To provide the basis for mental health education, we conducted this meta-analysis to accurately assess the global prevalence of mental health problems among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on the guidance of PRISMA, 3219 articles were searched in CNKI, CQVIP, PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCO. 10 articles were finally included in the statistical analysis after filtering by the article selection criteria. All data analysis were performed by Stata software, and a random effect model was used to combine correlation coefficient. A sensitivity analysis, publication bias, meta-regression, and subgroup analysis were also conducted in our analysis. In conclusion, the pooled prevalence of anxiety, stress, and depression symptoms among these medical students was 31% (95%CI: 20%-41%), 27% (95%CI: 1%-53%) and 36% (95%CI: 15%-58%), respectively. The results of our analysis suggested that the prevalence of depression symptom in medical students increased during the COVID-19 pandemic and was higher than that in students with different majors. And it is necessary and urgent to screen the depression symptom of medical students and take appropriate intervention measures.