Meta-Regression on the Heterogenous Factors Contributing to the Prevalence of Mental Health Symptoms During the COVID-19 Crisis Among Healthcare Workers

Xi Chen, Jiyao Chen, Meimei Zhang, Rebecca Kechen Dong, Jizhen Li, Zhe Dong, Yingying Ye, Lingyao Tong, Ruiying Zhao, Wenrui Cao, Peikai Li, Stephen X. Zhang*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalReview articleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Objective: This paper used meta-regression to analyze the heterogenous factors contributing to the prevalence rate of mental health symptoms of the general and frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) in China under the COVID-19 crisis. Method: We systematically searched PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and Medrxiv and pooled data using random-effects meta-analyses to estimate the prevalence rates, and ran meta-regression to tease out the key sources of the heterogeneity. Results: The meta-regression results uncovered several predictors of the heterogeneity in prevalence rates among published studies, including severity (e.g., above severe vs. above moderate, p < 0.01; above moderate vs. above mild, p < 0.01), type of mental symptoms (PTSD vs. anxiety, p = 0.04), population (frontline vs. general HCWs, p < 0.01), sampling location (Wuhan vs. Non-Wuhan, p = 0.04), and study quality (p = 0.04). Conclusion: The meta-regression findings provide evidence on the factors contributing to the prevalence rate of mental health symptoms of the general and frontline healthcare workers (HCWs) to guide future research and evidence-based medicine in several specific directions. Systematic Review Registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=220592, identifier: CRD42020220592.

Original languageEnglish
Article number833865
Pages (from-to)1-11
Number of pages11
JournalFrontiers in Psychiatry
Volume13
Issue numberMarch
Early online date18 Mar 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Mar 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (71772103).

Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Chen, Chen, Zhang, Dong, Li, Dong, Ye, Tong, Zhao, Cao, Li and Zhang.

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • frontline healthcare workers
  • healthcare workers
  • mental health
  • meta-analysis
  • meta-regression
  • systematic review

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Meta-Regression on the Heterogenous Factors Contributing to the Prevalence of Mental Health Symptoms During the COVID-19 Crisis Among Healthcare Workers'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this