Dados do Trabalho

Título

POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER AND ACUTE STRESS DISORDER DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS

Introdução

During the last year the world has been facing the COVID-19 pandemic. Several rigorous health policies were established to contain the spread of the disease (e.g., home quarantine, social distancing and cities lockdowns). Stressful events, as natural disasters and trauma, can significantly impact mental health functioning, resulting in conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

Objetivo

This systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted to estimate the prevalence of PTSD and Acute Stress Disorder (AS) on global population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Método

Based on PRISMA Guideline, the search was conducted on PubMed, Embase, Web of Sciences and PsycInfo following the terms: (COVID-19 OR SARS-COV-2 OR coronavirus OR "2019-nCOV disease") AND (PTSD OR "Stress Disorder" OR "Psychological Trauma" OR "Posttraumatic Stress Disorder" OR "Post-traumatic Stress Disorder"). The search was executed from August to November 2020. Articles were selected based on predetermined eligibility criteria. For methodological and data report assessment we adapted the cross-sectional version of the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS).

Resultados

We included 104 studies in the meta-analysis. The studies covered a total of 28 different countries among all continents. We identified that over 75% of the studies used PCL or IES scales (respectively 39,62% and 35.84%) to assess PTSD and AS symptoms and diagnosis. Meta‐analysis estimated a worldwide prevalence of PTSD and AS of 22.6% throughout COVID-19 pandemic (CI 95% 19.5–25.6). Meta-regression showed that the geographical location of study was a significant source of heterogeneity (p = 0.029; VAF = 4.17%), as well as instruments of PTSD/AS assessment (p = 0.029; VAF = 11.43%) and instrument cut-off points (p < 0.001; VAF = 12.83%). Higher prevalence of PTSD estimates were found in Europe (26,8%) compared with Asia (19,4%). In subgroup analyses focusing on the most frequently used (PCL-5) instrument, we found higher PTSD estimates among health-care professionals.

Conclusão

Based on our findings it seems clear that PTSD/AS symptoms and disorders have been extensively reported during the pandemic. If we considered that most of the data was derived from the first half of the last year, it might be expected that these estimates may increase in the next years since trauma-related disorders could emerge even months later the traumatic event. These findings have important implications for preventive mental health policies related to trauma-related disorders.

Palavras-chave

COVID-19; Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD); Systematic Review