Prevalence of depression, stress and suicide tendency among individuals with long COVID and determinants: a protocol of a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Published in: BMJ open Vol. 14; no. 2; p. e075754
• Main Authors: Bidhendi-Yarandi, Razieh, Biglarian, Akbar, Bakhshi, Enayatollah, Khodaei-Ardakani, Mohammad-Reza, Behboudi-Gandevani, Samira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England British Medical Journal Publishing Group 07.02.2024; BMJ Publishing Group LTD; BMJ Publishing Group
• Series: Protocol
• Subjects: Anxiety; Bayes Theorem; Content analysis; COVID-19; COVID-19 - epidemiology; Cross-sectional studies; Depression - epidemiology; Humans; Infections; Mental depression; Mental disorders; Mental Health; Meta-analysis; Meta-Analysis as Topic; Pandemics; Post-Acute COVID-19 Syndrome; Prevalence; Review Literature as Topic; Stress; Suicidal Ideation; Suicides & suicide attempts; Systematic review; Systematic Reviews as Topic; COVID-19; MENTAL HEALTH
• ISSN: 2044-6055; 2044-6055
• DOI: 10.1136/bmjopen-2023-075754

BackgroundIt is well known that the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on mental health, especially among individuals with long COVID. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to investigate the prevalence of depression, stress and suicide tendencies among individuals with long COVID, as well as to explore the factors that contribute to these conditions.Methods and analysisA comprehensive review of literature will be conducted in various databases of including PubMed, including Medline, Embase, PsycINFO, CINAHL and Cochrane Library. The studies to be included in this review will be published in the English language, and the time frame of included studies will be from the date of inception of COVID-19 until 30 December 2023. Two independent reviewers will identify studies for inclusion based on a screening questionnaire, and the JBI standardised critical appraisal checklist for studies reporting prevalence data will be used to assess the methodological quality. The strength of the body of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation approach. To analyse the data, a robust Bayesian approach will be applied using the STATA software package (V.14; STATA) and JASP software. The findings of this systematic review and meta-analysis will provide valuable insights into the prevalence of depression, stress and suicide tendencies among individuals with long COVID, as well as the factors that contribute to these conditions.Ethics and disseminationThere is no research ethics board approval required. The dissemination plan is to publish results in a peer-reviewed academic journal.PROSPERO registration numberCRD42022346858.