Prevalence of depression among drug-resistant tuberculosis patients in South Asia: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: Drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) significantly increases the risk of depression, yet research on mental health in this population remains limited.

Aim: This meta-analysis aimed to evaluate the prevalence of depression among multidrug-resistant TB (MDR-TB) patients, emphasizing the necessity for integrated mental health care.

Methods: A systematic search across PubMed, Cochrane, EBSCOhost, and Google Scholar identified 536 articles, which were screened for eligibility after removing duplicates.