SynthesisJournal of infection and public health2022
Post-viral mental health sequelae in infected persons associated with COVID-19 and previous epidemics and pandemics: Systematic review and meta-analysis of prevalence estimates.
Synthesis in Journal of infection and public health, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
14 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 33 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review to understand the long-term mental health effects of influenza pandemics.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2026Pooled it
- Prevalence and Correlates of Depressive Symptoms in Canada During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Based on 144 Studies Including 406,043 Participants: Prévalence et corrélats des symptômes dépressifs au Canada pendant la pandémie de COVID-19 : revue systématique et méta-analyse de 144 études comprenant 406 043 participants.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2026Review
- Levels and correlates of pandemic anxiety in people living with rare diseases: a cross-sectional analysis using a structural equation model.Orphanet journal of rare diseases · 2026Article
- Is There such a Thing as Post-Viral Depression?: Implications for Precision Medicine.Biomolecules & therapeutics · 2024Review
- Socio-demographic and clinical predictors of post-acute, mid-and long-term psychological sequelae of COVID-19: a two-year cross-sectional investigation on 1317 patients at the University Hospital of Verona.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2024Article
- Protocol for a systematic review to understand the long-term mental-health effects of influenza pandemics in the pre-COVID-19 era.Scandinavian journal of public health · 2024Article
- Preexisting Psychiatric Conditions as Risk Factors for Diagnosed Long COVID-19 Syndrome Within Aggregated Electronic Health Record Data.Psychosomatic medicine · 2024Article
- The Gut Microbiota and Major Depressive Disorder: Current Understanding and Novel Therapeutic Strategies.Current pharmaceutical biotechnology · 2024Review
- A network analysis of the interrelationships between depression, anxiety, insomnia and quality of life among fire service recruits.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- Occurrence, co-occurrence and persistence of symptoms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in survivors of COVID-19 critical illness.European journal of psychotraumatology · 2024Observational
- COVID-19-related mental health difficulties among marginalised populations: A literature review.Global mental health (Cambridge, England) · 2023Review
- Post-Viral Pain, Fatigue, and Sleep Disturbance Syndromes: Current Knowledge and Future Directions.Canadian journal of pain = Revue canadienne de la douleur · 2023Review
- Late Complications of COVID-19; An Umbrella Review on Current Systematic Reviews.Archives of academic emergency medicine · 2023Review
- Long-COVID and comorbid depression and anxiety two years into the COVID-19 pandemic.Psychiatry research · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
aimsPost-viral mental health problems (MHP) in COVID-19 patients and survivors were anticipated already during early stages of this pandemic. We aimed to synthesize the prevalence of the anxiety, depression, post-traumatic and general distress domain associated with virus epidemics since 2002.
methodsIn this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched PubMed, PsycINFO, and Embase from 2002 to April 14, 2021 for peer-reviewed studies reporting prevalence of MHP in adults with laboratory-confirmed or suspected SARS-CoV-1, H1N1, MERS-CoV, H7N9, Ebolavirus, or SARS-CoV-2 infection. We included studies that assessed post-viral MHP with validated and frequently used scales. A three-level random-effects meta-analysis for dependent effect sizes was conducted to account for multiple outcome reporting. We pooled MHP across all domains and separately by severity (above mild or moderate-to-severe) and by acute (one month), ongoing (one to three months), and post-illness stages (longer than three months). A meta-regression was conducted to test for moderating effects, particularly for exploring estimate differences between SARS-Cov-2 and previous pandemics and epidemics. PROSPERO registration: CRD42020194535.
resultsWe identified 59 studies including between 14 and 1002 participants and providing 187 prevalence estimates. MHP, in general, decreased from acute to post-illness from 46.3% to 38.8% and for mild and moderate-to-severe from 22.3% to 18.8%, respectively. We found no evidence of moderating effects except for non-random sampling and H1N1 showing higher prevalence. There was a non-significant trend towards lower MHP for SARS-CoV-2 compared to previous epidemics.
conclusionsMHP prevalence estimates decreased over time but were still on a substantial level at post-illness. Post-viral mental health problems caused by SARS-CoV-2 could have been expected much earlier, given the previous post-viral sequelae.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.