The Prevalence and Determinants of Mental Health Problems in Lebanon: A Meta-Analytic Study of 3957 Healthcare Workers.

Objective: Healthcare workers are continuously exposed to challenging environments, making them liable for poor mental health. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated this problem, however available data in Lebanon is scarce. We conducted this investigation to provide comprehensive evidence on the mental health of Lebanese healthcare workers.

Methods: In this systematic review, we analyzed 3957 workers reported in 15 cross-sectional studies (10 during and five before the pandemic), identified after searching four databases. Examined mental health problems included depression, anxiety, stress, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and poor sleep quality. STATA software was used to pool the prevalence across studies. Subgroup analyses were performed based on the pandemic status, severity of mental health problems, and healthcare worker type. Gender and marital status were analyzed as potential risk factors. The methodological quality of all included studies was good as per the National Institute of Health risk of bias tool.

Results: Anxiety, depression, stress, PTSD, insomnia, and poor sleep quality were reported in 50%, 52%, 50%, 35%, 45%, and 41% of the population, respectively. Most cases had mild anxiety (40%), mild depression (45%), but severe stress (27%). Depression and anxiety were highest among pharmacists (69% and 56%) and nurses (49% and 45%), respectively. Compared to the pre-pandemic period, depression (36% vs. 62%) and anxiety (30% vs. 56%) rates were higher during the pandemic, while stress levels were lower (62% vs. 45%). Both gender and marital status were insignificant predictors of depression, anxiety, stress, or PTSD.

Conclusions: Depression, anxiety, posttraumatic stress, insomnia, and poor sleep quality are experienced by approximately one in every two Lebanese healthcare workers. The rate of depression and anxiety almost doubled during the pandemic with higher rates among pharmacists and nurses than physicians and residents. Both gender and marital status were deemed insignificant predictors of reported mental health problems.