Depression and anxiety associated with COVID- 19 pandemic among healthcare professionals in India- A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background: As India is fighting against the second wave of COVID-19, Healthcare professionals are the front-line warriors on that battlefield which puts them under psychological pressure, this systematic review aims to critically look into and amalgamate the evidence on impact of COVID-19 on psychological health of healthcare professionals in India and to seek the attention of policymakers.

Methods: A systematic literature search was performed using the following databases PubMed, SCOPUS, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, ScienceDirect. Additionally, random search in Google, Google Scholar and ResearchGate was also performed until February 2021. The methodological quality of studies was assessed using Downs and Black for reporting quality. Meta-analysis was performed using revMAN. The review protocol is registered in PROSPERO and is available online.

Result: Prevalence of depression was found to be present in 41.90% of 5796 participants in five studies (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 29.17 to 54.64), and prevalence of anxiety was found to be 42.87% common in 10 studies with a total sample size of 3059 people (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 30.26 to 55.49), Stress was found to be prevalent (58.04%) in 12 studies with 4209 participants, (95% CI: 44.81-71.28), Prevalence of sleeping problem in 3 studies with 416 participants recorded a prevalence rate of 31.94 (95% CI: 21.38-42.49).

Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on people's mental and physical health, particularly among health-care workers. Authorities should develop programmes to help health-care workers improve their mental health.