Prevalence of current mental disorders before and during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic: An analysis of repeated nationwide cross-sectional surveys.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES\nTo assess the prevalence of mental disorders during the second wave of COVID-19 pandemic in comparison with both, baseline and the first wave of the pandemic, and to identify disproportionally affected non-clinical subgroups.\n\n\nMATERIAL AND METHODS\nWe used data from three nationally representative cross-sectional studies and compared the prevalence of current mood and anxiety disorders, and alcohol-use disorders at baseline (November 2017, n\xa0=\xa03306), immediately after the first peak (May 2020, n\xa0=\xa03021), and during the second peak (November 2020, n\xa0=\xa03000) of COVID-19 in Czechia. We used the Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview (M.I.N.I.) as a screening instrument, and calculated weighted prevalence (%) with 95% weighted confidence intervals (95% CIs). Additionally, we examined the prevalence of these disorders across different non-clinical population sub-groups during the second wave of the pandemic.\n\n\nRESULTS\nThe proportion of individuals experiencing at least one mental disorder was highest during the second wave of the pandemic (32.94%, 95% CI\xa0=\xa031.14%; 34.77%), when compared to both the baseline in November 2017 (20.02%, 95% CI\xa0=\xa018.64%; 21.39%), and the first wave in May 2020 (29.63%, 95% CI\xa0=\xa027.9%; 31.37%). Younger adults, students, those having lost a job or on forced leave, and those with only elementary education displayed disproportionally high prevalence of mental disorders.\n\n\nCONCLUSIONS\nOur findings suggest that population mental health has not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. It seems that mental health of some population subgroups, such as young adults or those worse off economically, might have been affected disproportionately by the COVID-19 situation, and future studies identifying high-risk groups are warranted.