Stress, anxiety and depression among medical students during COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective

The potential psychological impact of COVID-19 have been evaluated in enormous prevalence studies in medical students, however, pooled and precise prevalence is needed to judgment about the true burden. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to summarize and synthesize published studies on the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods

A systematic search utilizing PubMed, Scopus and Web of Sciences was conducted for retrieving original studies that examined the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression among medical students through September 18, 2021. Random effects model using inverse variance method was applied to estimate pool prevalence. Subgroup analyses were performed to evaluate the variation of the study outcomes according to the used questionnaire and the world health organization (WHO) regions.

Results

One hundred eight studies were included in a systematic review and of them, 52 were considered for various meta-analysis. Pooling of included studies showed prevalence estimates (95 % CI) of 0.50 (0.39 0.62), 0.44 (0.38, 0.50) and 0.49 (0.41, 0.56) for stress, anxiety and depression, respectively. The prevalence of the mental states was higher among medical students in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) compared to other WHO regions.

Conclusion

Our findings showed large figures for the prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression among medical students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Medical schools should monitor the status of medical students under pandemic circumstances in term of stress, depression and anxiety.