Prevalence of obsessive-compulsive disorders (OCD) symptoms among health care workers in COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Background Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) symptoms, are among the serious mental health challenges that Health Care Workers (HCWs) faced during the COVID-19 pandemic. As these symptoms reduce the mental well-being and effectiveness of HCWs which are followed by poor health outcomes for patients, the aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was to determine the prevalence of OCD symptoms among HCWs worldwide. Methods PubMed, Google Scholar, Cochrane, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Emerald, and ERIC databases were searched using related keywords till the end of October 2021. Observational studies about the prevalence of OCD symptoms among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic were screened and evaluated. In order to assess the quality of studies, the Newcastle-Ottawa scale (NOS) checklist was used. The effect measure was the prevalence rate with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Results A total of 7864 individuals from 11 studies were included. The range of OCD symptoms prevalence across these studies was from 0.07 to 0.47. Due to the high heterogeneity between the studies (I2 = 98.6%, P < 0.01), the random effects model was used. The pooled prevalence was 0.29 (95% CI: 0.22–0.38) based on logit transformed CI. Conclusions The pooled prevalence of OCD symptoms was 29% among the HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. This prevalence was higher than the general population according to the pre-pandemic literature, but lower than the recent reports amid the pandemic. Psychosocial interventions are suggested to be designed and implemented in such conditions.

Editorial: Community series in mental illness, culture, and society: dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, volume VIII

“…As of May 2024, the World Health Organization reported more than 775 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 worldwide, and over 7 million deaths directly related to the coronavirus, as well as incalculable damage to physical health, mental health, and quality of life around the world ( 18 – 20 ). At the same time, through the efforts of frontliners, physicians, and researchers, the articles collected in this eighth and previous seven volumes, demonstrate a beacon of hope towards better understanding and facing the challenge of the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on mental health, allowing to draw robust conclusions and expectations for the years to come ( 21 – 23 ).…”