Post-viral mental health sequelae in infected persons associated with COVID-19 and previous epidemics and pandemics: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence estimates

Zürcher, Simeon Joel; Banzer, Céline; Adamus, Christine; Lehmann, Anja I.; Richter, Dirk; Kerksieck, Philipp (2022). Post-viral mental health sequelae in infected persons associated with COVID-19 and previous epidemics and pandemics: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence estimates Journal of Infection and Public Health, 15(5), pp. 599-608. Elsevier 10.1016/j.jiph.2022.04.005

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Aims: Post-viral mental health problems (MHP) in COVID-19 patients and survivors were anticipated already during early stages of this pandemic. We aimed to synthesize the prevalence of the anxiety, depression, post-traumatic and general distress domain associated with virus epidemics since 2002. Methods: In this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase from 2002 to April 14, 2021 for peer-reviewed studies reporting prevalence of MHP in adults with laboratory confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-1, H1N1, MERS-CoV, H7N9, Ebolavirus, or SARS-CoV-2 infection. We included studies that assessed post-viral MHP with validated and frequently used scales. A three-level random-effects meta-analysis for dependent effect sizes was conducted to account for multiple outcome reporting. We pooled MHP across all domains and separately by severity (above mild or moderate-to-severe) and by acute (one month), ongoing (one to three months), and post-illness stages (longer than three months). A meta-regression was conducted to test for moderating effects, particularly for exploring esti- mate differences between SARS-Cov-2 and previous pandemics and epidemics. PROSPERO registration: CRD42020194535. Results: We identified 59 studies including between 14 and 1002 participants and providing 187 prevalence estimates. MHP, in general, decreased from acute to post-illness from 46.3% to 38.8% and for mild and moderate-to-severe from 22.3% to 18.8%, respectively. We found no evidence of moderating effects except for non-random sampling and H1N1 showing higher prevalence. There was a non-significant trend towards lower MHP for SARS-CoV-2 compared to previous epidemics. Conclusions: MHP prevalence estimates decreased over time but were still on a substantial level at post-illness. Post-viral mental health problems caused by SARS-CoV-2 could have been expected much earlier, given the previous post-viral sequelae.

Item Type:	Journal Article (Original Article)
Division/Institute:	School of Health Professions School of Health Professions > Nursing School of Health Professions > Nursing > Innovation in the Field of Mental Health and Psychiatric Care
Name:	Zürcher, Simeon Joel; Banzer, Céline; Adamus, Christine; Lehmann, Anja I.; Richter, Dirk0000-0002-6215-6110 and Kerksieck, Philipp
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
ISSN:	1876-0341
Publisher:	Elsevier
Language:	English
Submitter:	Dirk Richter
Date Deposited:	02 Aug 2022 15:53
Last Modified:	24 May 2023 07:41
Publisher DOI:	10.1016/j.jiph.2022.04.005
Uncontrolled Keywords:	COVID-19 Long-COVID Mental health Post-viral sequelae Prevalence
ARBOR DOI:	10.24451/arbor.17242
URI:	https://arbor.bfh.ch/id/eprint/17242