Santomauro DF, Herrera AMM, Shadid J, et al. - Researchers sought to determine how the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the prevalence and burden of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders globally in 2020.

• Via searching PubMed, Google Scholar, preprint servers, grey literature sources, and consulting experts, 5,683 unique data sources were identified, 48 of which met inclusion criteria (46 studies met criteria for major depressive disorder and 27 for anxiety disorders).

• There appeared an increased prevalence of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders in correlation with two COVID-19 impact indicators, specifically daily SARS-CoV-2 infection rates and reductions in human mobility.

• Relative to males, females experienced greater effects of pandemic and relative to older age groups, younger age groups were more affected.

• There were greatest increases in prevalence of major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders for the locations hit hardest by the pandemic in 2020, as measured with decreased human mobility and daily SARS-CoV-2 infection rate.

• Per estimates, COVID-19 pandemic linked with the occurrence of an additional 53·2 million (44·8 to 62·9) cases of major depressive disorder globally (an increase of 27·6% [25·1 to 30·3]).

• An additional 76·2 million (64·3 to 90·6) cases of anxiety disorders were recorded globally (an increase of 25·6% [23·2 to 28·0]).

• Altogether, major depressive disorder and anxiety disorders caused 49·4 million (33·6 to 68·7) DALYs and 44·5 million (30·2 to 62·5) DALYs globally in 2020, respectively.

• Overall, an increased urgency to improve mental health systems has been created by this pandemic in most countries.

• Researchers recommend incorporation of ways to promote mental wellbeing and target determinants of poor mental health and interventions to treat those with a mental disorder in mitigation strategies.