Fear of COVID-19 and its association with mental health-related factors: systematic review and meta-analysis.
BJPsych Open
; 8(2): e73, 2022 Mar 21.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1753143
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
The severity of COVID-19 remains high worldwide. Therefore, millions of individuals are likely to suffer from fear of COVID-19 and related mental health factors.AIMS:
The present systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to synthesize empirical evidence to understand fear of COVID-19 and its associations with mental health-related problems during this pandemic period.METHOD:
Relevant studies were searched for on five databases (Scopus, ProQuest, EMBASE, PubMed Central, and ISI Web of Knowledge), using relevant terms (COVID-19-related fear, anxiety, depression, mental health-related factors, mental well-being and sleep problems). All studies were included for analyses irrespective of their methodological quality, and the impact of quality on pooled effect size was examined by subgroup analysis.RESULTS:
The meta-analysis pooled data from 91 studies comprising 88 320 participants (mean age 38.88 years; 60.66% females) from 36 countries. The pooled estimated mean of fear of COVID-19 was 13.11 (out of 35), using the Fear of COVID-19 Scale. The associations between fear of COVID-19 and mental health-related factors were mostly moderate (Fisher's z = 0.56 for mental health-related factors; 0.54 for anxiety; 0.42 for stress; 0.40 for depression; 0.29 for sleep problems and -0.24 for mental well-being). Methodological quality did not affect these associations.CONCLUSIONS:
Fear of COVID-19 has associations with various mental health-related factors. Therefore, programmes for reducing fear of COVID-19 and improving mental health are needed.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Prognostic study
/
Reviews
/
Systematic review/Meta Analysis
Language:
English
Journal:
BJPsych Open
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Bjo.2022.26
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