ArticleBMC public health2026
Trends in depressive episodes in pre-, intra-, and post-COVID-19 pandemic periods among South Korean adults.
Article in BMC public health, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has brought about significant social changes that could potentially affect mental health. This study aimed to examine the association between specific periods of the pandemic and depressive symptoms in South Korean adults.
methodsWe used cross-sectional data from 1,376,438 participants involved in the 2019–2024 Korean Community Health Survey. The pandemic period was categorized into pre-COVID-19 (2019), intra-COVID-19 (2020–2022), and post-COVID-19 (2023–2024) periods. Depressive episodes were assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the odds of depressive episodes across the time periods.
resultsCompared to the pre-pandemic period, individuals assessed during the intra-COVID-19 period had higher odds of depressive episodes (odds ratio [OR] = 1.23; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.19–1.27). The odds further increased in the post-COVID-19 period (OR = 1.41; 95% CI: 1.36–1.45). The association was greatest among adults aged 20–39 years old.
conclusionsDepressive symptoms were more common during and after the pandemic, particularly among younger adults. These findings emphasize the need for long-term mental health support in the post-COVID-19 pandemic era.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.