Background: The twenty-first century viral respiratory epidemics have taught us valuable lessons Our systematic review examined the impact of these epidemics, including coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), on mental health among different population groups, drawing on their insights for recommendations for the current COVID-19 pandemic Methods: Searches were performed on PubMed, Embase, PsycINFO, Web of Science, Scopus, CINAHL, and Cochrane on April 4, 2020 Studies that had undefined mental health outcomes or did not use a validated scale for measure were excluded Quality assessment was carried out via the Newcastle–Ottawa Scale Results: We included 95 studies, most of which were conducted in Hong Kong (31 6%) and China (21 4%) A total of 30 (30 9%) studies are on the general public, 41 (42 2%) on healthcare workers, and 26 (26 6%) on patients and quarantined individuals Furthermore, 36 (37 1%) of the studies are of high quality, 48 (49 5%) are of moderate quality, and 13 (13 4%) are of low quality The most significant mental health outcomes reported include anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms The subgroups identified to have a higher risk of psychiatric symptoms among the general public include females, the elderly, individuals with chronic illness, migrant workers, and students Long-term mental health impact was reported in some healthcare workers and epidemic patients, even up to 3 years in the former Interestingly, when compared to non-quarantined groups, quarantine was not significantly associated with worse mental health outcomes Conclusion: Important implications for the COVID-19 pandemic were highlighted Respiratory epidemics pose a significant psychological morbidity onto many population groups Psychological support for vulnerable groups, including healthcare workers and patients, should be implemented to prevent them from spiraling into clinical psychiatric conditions © Copyright © 2020 Luo, Chua, Xiong, Ho and Ho
A Systematic Review of the Impact of Viral Respiratory Epidemics on Mental Health: An Implication on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic