Prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people influenced by coronavirus disease 2019 outbreak: A meta-analysis

Abstract

Background. As one of the most widely researched consequence of traumatic events, the prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak varies greatly across studies. This review aimed at examining the pooled prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak. Methods. Systematic searches of databases were conducted for literature published on PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Cochrane Library, PsycArticle, and Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure until October 14, 2020. Statistical analyses were performed using R software (PROSPERO registration number: CRD42020180309). Results. A total of 106,713 people exposed to the trauma resulting from the COVID-19 outbreak were identified in the 76 articles, of which 33,810 were reported with post-traumatic stress symptoms. The pooled prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak was 28.34%, with a 95% confidence interval of 23.03-34.32%. Subgroup analysis indicated that older age, male and bigger sample size were associated with higher prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms. After controlling for other factors, the results of meta-regression showed that the influence of gender and sample size on prevalence is no longer significant. Conclusions. Symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) were very common among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak. Further research is needed to explore more possible risk factors for post-traumatic stress symptoms and identify effective strategies for preventing PTSD-related symptoms among people exposed to the trauma resulting from COVID-19 outbreak. BackgroundAs of December 14, 2020, 70.4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 1.6 million deaths have been reported to the World Health Organization [1]. The outbreak of COVID-19 spread rapidly, caused enormous losses to individual health, national economy, and social wellbeing [2,3]. Currently, control of the epidemic of COVID-19 is still the dominant task across the world, millions of people are scared and even panic of the possible loss of health, life, and wealth. Although it is too early to predict how many people worldwide will be infected with this emerging virus, it is believed that the numbers of case and death will continue to increase in the forthcoming months. Some psychologists draw attention toward post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) as the second tsunami of the COVID-19 pandemic [4]. According to the Diagnostic and Statistics of Mental Disorders, the fifth edition (DSM-5), the clinical features of PTSD include persistent avoidance of stimuli, persistent intrusion symptoms, negative alterations in cognition or mood and marked alterations in arousal and reactivity, all of which are related to traumatic events [5]. PTSD could cause clinically significant distress or impairment in occupational, ...

What Is the Role of Resilience and Coping Strategies on the Mental Health of the General Population during the COVID-19 Pandemic? Results from the Italian Multicentric COMET Study

“…The total score is calculated by adding together the response value of each item, with higher scores indicating more severe levels of depressive, anxiety, and stress symptoms. The score at the DASS-depression subscale (e.g., "I felt that I had nothing to look forward to") is divided into normal (0-9), mild (10)(11)(12), moderate (13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20), severe (21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26)(27), and extremely severe depression (28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42). The score at the DASS-anxiety subscale (e.g., "I was worried about situations in which I might panic and make a fool of myself") is divided into normal (0-6), mild (7)(8)(9), moderate (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), severe (15)(16)(17)(18)(19), and extremely severe anxiety .…”

“…The score at the DASS-anxiety subscale (e.g., "I was worried about situations in which I might panic and make a fool of myself") is divided into normal (0-6), mild (7)(8)(9), moderate (10)(11)(12)(13)(14), severe (15)(16)(17)(18)(19), and extremely severe anxiety . The score at the DASS-stress subscale (e.g., "I tended to over-react to situations") is divided into normal (0-10), mild (11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18), moderate (19)(20)(21)(22)(23)(24)(25)(26), severe (27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32)(33)(34), and extremely severe stress (35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40)(41)(42).…”

“…In disabled people and in those with pre-existing mental health problems, an increased risk of treatment interruption has been found, associated with relapses or symptoms worsening [ 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. Finally, people affected by COVID-19 have experienced high levels of trauma-related disorders, cognitive deficits, and depression [ 30 , 31 , 32 , 33 , 34 ]. Specific risk factors identified for the development of these mental health disturbances include female gender, having previous mental health or physical disorders, loneliness, time spent on the Internet, and unemployment [ 11 , 25 ].…”

Traumatic Distress of COVID-19 and Depression in the General Population: Exploring the Role of Resilience, Anxiety, and Hope

“…Age and gender have been frequently reported as factors associated with mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence shows that younger adults (< 40 years old) are generally at higher risk of experiencing higher levels of depression and anxiety amidst the pandemic [7,8,19,20], while older adults may be more susceptible in experiencing posttraumatic stress symptoms [21]. Being a woman has also been reported as a risk factor of experiencing higher depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress symptoms during this pandemic [8,19,20,22].…”

Prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorders and associated factors one month after the outbreak of the COVID-19 among the public in southwestern China: a cross-sectional study

“…Their results showed that the global prevalence estimate was 24.1% for post-traumatic stress symptoms. Another similar articles reported the pooled prevalence of post-traumatic stress symptoms was 28.34% [ 14 ] and 21.94% [ 27 ]. The research mentioned above showed that under the epidemic situation, the general population were at a high level of PTSD across countries and regions, suggesting the attention to PTSD related to COVID-19 should be increased globally and identifying related risk factors in terms of reducing the mental health burden of COVID-19 is crucial.…”