The Prevalence of Depression among the Global Public in the Context of the COVID-19 Epidemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

We aimed to analyze the prevalence of depression among the global public during COVID-19, identify its influencing factors in order to provide reference, and help safeguard public mental health.

A comprehensive literature on global public depression in various countries during the COVID-19 pandemic was obtained through electronic searches of PubMed, Web of Science, and other databases, combined with literature tracing from Dec 2019 to Mar 2023. Then a meta-analysis was conducted using the random effects model by Stata 16.0. The heterogeneity was evaluated by I2. Subgroup analysis, sensitivity analysis, and meta-regression analysis were used to explore the sources of heterogeneity and the factors influencing public depression. Egger's test was used to test publication bias.

Overall, 68 articles with 234,678 samples were included in the study. Analysis revealed that the overall prevalence of depression among the population during COVID-19 was 32.0% (95% CI: 29.0%-35.0%). Of these, marital status (OR=0.65, 95% CI: 0.47-0.87), presence of infected cases (OR=2.45, 95% CI: 1.82-3.30), and fear of being infected by the virus (OR=9.31, 95% CI: 6.03-14.37) were the main factors influencing people’s depression and the main source of heterogeneity.

The prevalence of depression among the global public is at a high level during COVID-19. The prevalence of depression among people unmarried, divorced, or widowed, surrounded by infected cases, contact infection cases, and worried about being were higher than others.