The COVID-19 pandemic has incited a rise in anxiety, with uncertainty regarding the specific impacts and risk factors across multiple populations. A qualitative systematic review was conducted to investigate the prevalence and associations of anxiety in different sample populations in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic. Four databases were utilised in the search (Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO). The review period commenced in April 2021 and was finalised on 5 July 2021. A total of 3537 studies were identified of which 87 were included in the review (sample size: 755,180). Healthcare workers had the highest prevalence of anxiety (36%), followed by university students (34.7%), the general population (34%), teachers (27.2%), parents (23.3%), pregnant women (19.5%), and police (8.79%). Risk factors such as being female, having pre-existing mental conditions, lower socioeconomic status, increased exposure to infection, and being younger all contributed to worsened anxiety. The review included studies published before July 2021; due to the ongoing nature of the COVID-19 pandemic, this may have excluded relevant papers. Restriction to only English papers and a sample size > 1000 may have also limited the range of papers included. These findings identify groups who are most vulnerable to developing anxiety in a pandemic and what specific risk factors are most common across multiple populations.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, Anxiety, mental health, qualitative systematic review, 【초록키워드】 pandemic, COVID-19 pandemic, Infection, systematic review, risk factor, database, healthcare worker, Population, pregnant women, Prevalence, Impact, female, General population, group, association, Factor, Sample size, restriction, CINAHL, PsycINFO, parent, Mental, populations, English, highest, identify, conducted, contributed, excluded, conditions, utilised, commenced, worsened, 【제목키워드】 review, Population, Rate,