Increase in prevalence of current mental disorders in the context of COVID-19: Analysis of repeated nationwide cross-sectional surveys
Abstract
Aims: The United Nations warned of COVID-19 related mental health crisis; however, it is unknown whether there is an increase in prevalence of mental disorders as existing studies lack a reliable baseline analysis or they did not use a diagnostic measure. We aimed to analyse trends in the prevalence of mental disorders prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Methods: We analysed data from repeated cross-sectional surveys on a representative sample of non-institutionalized Czech adults (18+ years) from both November 2017 (n=3306; 54% females) and May 2020 (n=3021; 52% females). We used Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (MINI) as the main screening instrument.
We calculated descriptive statistics and compared the prevalence of current mood and anxiety disorders, suicide risk, and alcohol related disorders at baseline and right after the first peak of COVID-19 when related lockdown was still in place in CZ. In addition, using logistic regression, we assessed the association between COVID-19-related worries and the presence of mental disorders.
Results: We found an increased proportion of those experiencing symptoms of at least one current mental disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic by more than 10 % when compared to the baseline in November 2017 (20.02, 95% CI = 18.64; 21.39 in 2017 vs 29.63, 95% CI = 27.9; 31.37 in 2020). The prevalence of both major depressive disorder (3.96, 95% CI = 3.28; 4.62 vs 11.77, 95% CI = 10.56; 12.99); and suicide risk (3.88, 95% CI = 3.21; 4.52 vs 11.88, 95% CI = 10.64; 13.07) tripled and current anxiety disorders almost doubled (7.79, 95% CI = 6.87; 8.7 vs 12.84, 95% CI = 11.6; 14.05).
The prevalence of alcohol use disorders in 2020 was approximately the same as in 2017 (10.84, 95% CI = 9.78; 11.89 vs 9.88, 95% CI = 8.74; 10.98); however, there was a significant increase in weekly binge drinking behaviors (4.07% vs 6.39%). Strong worries about both, health or economic consequences of COVID-19, were associated with an increased odds of having a mental disorder (1.63, 95% CI = 1.4; 1.89 and 1.42, 95% CI = 1.23; 1.63 respectively).
Conclusions: This study provides evidence matching concerns that COVID-19 related mental health problems is a real concern and poses a major threat to populations, particularly considering the barriers in service provision posed during lockdown. This finding emphasizes an urgent need to scale up mental health promotion and prevention globally.