Prevalence of Anxiety in University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review.
Int J Environ Res Public Health
; 19(1)2021 Dec 22.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1580855
ABSTRACT
There is a dearth of evidence synthesis on the prevalence of anxiety among university students even though the risk of psychological disorders among this population is quite high. We conducted a quantitative systematic review to estimate the global prevalence of anxiety among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. A systematic search for cross-sectional studies on PubMed, Scopus, and PsycINFO, using PRISMA guidelines, was conducted from September 2020 to February 2021. A total of 36 studies were included, using a random-effects model to calculate the pooled proportion of anxiety. A meta-analysis of the prevalence estimate of anxiety yielded a summary prevalence of 41% (95% CI = 0.34-0.49), with statistically significant evidence of between-study heterogeneity (Q = 80801.97, I2 = 100%, p ≤ 0.0001). A subgroup analysis reported anxiety prevalence in Asia as 33% (95% CI0.25-0.43), the prevalence of anxiety in Europe as 51% (95% CI 0.44-0.59), and the highest prevalence of anxiety in the USA as 56% (95% CI 0.44-0.67). A subgroup gender-based analysis reported the prevalence of anxiety in females as 43% (95% CI0.29-0.58) compared to males with an anxiety prevalence of 39% (95% CI0.29-0.50). University students seem to have a high prevalence of anxiety, indicating an increased mental health burden during this pandemic.
Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Pandemics
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Randomized controlled trials
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Limits:
Female
/
Humans
/
Male
Language:
English
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Ijerph19010062
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