Prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress and insomnia among healthcare professionals during COVID-19 in Africa: umbrella review of existing meta-analyses.

Introduction: In Africa, healthcare professionals experienced various mental health problems during COVID-19. However, very little was done on the extensive evidence regarding mental disorders. The purpose of this umbrella review is to provide comprehensive data on the prevalence of anxiety, depression, stress, and insomnia among healthcare professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Africa.

Materials and methods: Systematic searches of databases African Journals Online, MedRxiv, PubMed, and Google Scholar were used to identify studies from the occurrence of COVID-19 from December 2019 to March 2023 were included. To pool the gathered data for results with a 95% confidence interval (CI), DerSimonian-Laird random effects meta-analysis was used. For heterogeneity examination, I² was used. The quality assessment was evaluated by using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) critical appraisal checklist.

Results: A total of five studies reported the prevalence of depression, the pooled prevalence was 53.75% (95% CI [40.80-66.70], I² = 63.6%, p = 0.027). In a total of four studies, the pooled prevalence of anxiety was 49.97% (95% CI [34.71-65.23], I² = 71.26%, p = 0.014). From a total of two studies, the pooled prevalence of stress was 57.27% (95% CI [42.28-72.25], I² = 58.9%, p = 0.119). From a total of four studies, the pooled prevalence of insomnia was 45.16% (95% CI [32.94-57.39], I² = 50.8%, p = 0.107).

Conclusions: The COVID-19 pandemic highly affects the mental health of healthcare professionals in Africa. Stress, depression, anxiety, and insomnia symptoms were representing the most common based on evidences from existing meta-analyses. This evidence can help experts when executing specific interventions that address mental health problems among healthcare professionals during future public health crises.