Prevalence of Depression, Anxiety, Stress and Insomnia Among Healthcare Workers in Saudi Arabia During COVID-19: A PRISMA-Guided Systematic Review and Random-Effects Meta-Analysis
Darin Mansor Mathkor, Mohammad Irshad, Mohd. Farooq Shaikh, Shafiul HaqueBackground
The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 placed healthcare workers (HCWs) under substantial psychological burden. Despite many Saudi studies, no pooled national estimate of mental health problems among HCWs during COVID-19 has been reported.
Objective
This study aimed to synthesize existing evidence using PRISMA guidelines to estimate the pooled prevalence of mental health problems among HCWs in Saudi Arabia during COVID-19.
Methods
Systematic searches on selected online web-databases identified eligible cross-sectional studies of HCWs in Saudi Arabia (data collected between 1 March 2020 to 30 March 2021) reporting prevalence of depression, anxiety, stress, psychological distress, or insomnia using validated tools with established cut-off scores. Random-effects meta-analysis estimated pooled prevalence, while study quality and heterogeneity were examined using the JBI checklist/itemized risk-of-bias and I 2 statistic.
Results
Thirty-six studies involving 20,787 HCWs met the inclusion criteria. The pooled prevalence of depression (n = 10,452) was 50.2% (95% CI: 38.5 - 61.8; I 2 = 98.4), anxiety (n = 12,692) was 58.1% (95% CI: 50.4 - 65.3; I 2 = 98.0%), stress (n = 5,181) was 63.9% (95% CI: 39.8 - 82.6; I 2 = 98.4%), psychological distress (n = 6,647) was 57.0% (95% CI: 34.3 - 77.1; I 2 = 99.3%), and insomnia (n = 3,108) was 57.3% (95% CI: 34.1 - 77.7; I 2 = 99.0). The pooled prevalence of moderate-to-severe depression was 24.0% (95% CI: 16.0 - 35.0; I 2 = 98.6%), anxiety 35.8% (95% CI: 28.1 - 44.2, I 2 = 98.7%), stress 48.6% (95% CI: 24.2 - 73.7; I 2 = 98.9%), psychological distress 27.3% (95% CI: 13.6 - 47.3; I 2 = 98.8%) and insomnia 13.4% (95% CI: 7.9 - 21.7, I 2 = 80.2) among HCWs.
Conclusion
Most of HCWs experienced mental health problems during COVID-19, with stress being the most prevalent condition, highlighting the need for preventive and supportive mental health strategies during public health emergencies.