A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Symptoms of Anxiety, Depression, and Insomnia in Spain in the COVID-19 Crisis

  • Stephen X. Zhang
  • , Richard Z. Chen
  • , Wen Xu
  • , Allen Yin
  • , Rebecca Kechen Dong
  • , Bryan Z. Chen
  • , Andrew Yilong Delios
  • , Saylor Miller
  • , Roger S. McIntyre
  • , Wenping Ye
  • , Xue Wan

    Research output: Journal PublicationReview articlepeer-review

    56 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Background: General population, frontline healthcare workers (HCWs), and adult students in Spain are at risk of anxiety, depression, and insomnia symptoms during the COVID-19 crisis. A meta-analysis of the individual studies on these symptoms would provide systematic evidence to aid policymakers and researchers in focusing on prevalence, risk, and best interventions. Objective: This paper aims to be the first meta-analysis and systematic review to calculate the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and insomnia symptoms in Spain’s adult population (general population, frontline healthcare workers (HCWs), and adult students) during the Covid-19 epidemic. Method: Random-effect meta-analysis was used to estimate the prevalence of anxiety, depression, and insomnia. Results: The meta-analysis includes 28 studies with 38 individual samples in Spain. The pooled prevalence of anxiety symptoms in 22 studies comprising a sample population of 82,024 was 20% (95% CI: 15–25%), that of depression symptoms in 22 articles with a total sample comprising 82,890 individuals was 22% (95% CI: 18–28%), and that of insomnia symptoms in three articles with a sample population of 745 was 57% (95% CI: 48–66%. Conclusions: The accumulative evidence reveals that adults in Spain suffered higher prevalence rates of mental symptoms during the COVID-19 crisis, with a significantly higher rate relative to other countries such as China. Our synthesis also reveals a relative lack of studies on frontline and general HCWs in Spain.

    Original languageEnglish
    Article number1018
    JournalInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
    Volume19
    Issue number2
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2022

    Free Keywords

    • Anxiety
    • Depression
    • Frontline healthcare workers
    • General population
    • Meta-analysis

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Pollution
    • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health
    • Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis

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