Black communities have been disproportionately impacted by Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Canada, in terms of both number of infections and mortality rates. Yet, according to early studies, vaccine hesitancy appears to be higher in Black communities. The purpose of this systematic review is to examine the prevalence and factors associated with vaccine hesitancy in Black communities in Canada. Peer-reviewed studies published from 11 March 2020 to 26 July 2022, were searched through eleven databases: APA PsycInfo (Ovid), Cairn.info, Canadian Business & Current Affairs (ProQuest), CPI.Q (Gale OneFile), Cochrane CENTRAL (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), Érudit, Global Health (EBSCOhost), MEDLINE (Ovid), and Web of Science (Clarivate). Eligible studies were published in French or English and had empirical data on the prevalence or factors associated with vaccine hesitancy in samples or subsamples of Black people. Only five studies contained empirical data on vaccine hesitancy in Black individuals and were eligible for inclusion in this systematic review. Black individuals represented 1.18% (n = 247) of all included study samples (n = 20,919). Two of the five studies found that Black individuals were more hesitant to be vaccinated against COVID-19 compared to White individuals, whereas the other three found no significant differences. The studies failed to provide any evidence of factors associated with vaccine hesitancy in Black communities. Despite national concerns about vaccine hesitancy in Black communities, a color-blind approach is still predominant in Canadian health research. Of about 40 studies containing empirical data on vaccine hesitancy in Canada, only five contained data on Black communities. None analyzed factors associated with vaccine hesitancy in Black communities. Policies and strategies to strengthen health research in Black communities and eliminate the color-blind approach are discussed.

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A Systematic Review on Vaccine Hesitancy in Black Communities in Canada: Critical Issues and Research Failures

Background There remains uncertainty about the impact of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on mental health. This umbrella review provides a comprehensive overview of the association between the pandemic and common mental disorders. We qualitatively summarized evidence from reviews with meta-analyses of individual study-data in the general population, healthcare workers, and specific at-risk populations. Methods and findings A systematic search was carried out in 5 databases for peer-reviewed systematic reviews with meta-analyses of prevalence of depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms during the pandemic published between December 31, 2019 until August 12, 2022. We identified 123 reviews of which 7 provided standardized mean differences (SMDs) either from longitudinal pre- to during pandemic study-data or from cross-sectional study-data compared to matched pre-pandemic data. Methodological quality rated with the Assessment of Multiple Systematic Reviews checklist scores (AMSTAR 2) instrument was generally low to moderate. Small but significant increases of depression, anxiety, and/or general mental health symptoms were reported in the general population, in people with preexisting physical health conditions, and in children (3 reviews; SMDs ranged from 0.11 to 0.28). Mental health and depression symptoms significantly increased during periods of social restrictions (1 review; SMDs of 0.41 and 0.83, respectively) but anxiety symptoms did not (SMD: 0.26). Increases of depression symptoms were generally larger and longer-lasting during the pandemic (3 reviews; SMDs depression ranged from 0.16 to 0.23) than those of anxiety (2 reviews: SMDs 0.12 and 0.18). Females showed a significantly larger increase in anxiety symptoms than males (1 review: SMD 0.15). In healthcare workers, people with preexisting mental disorders, any patient group, children and adolescents, and in students, no significant differences from pre- to during pandemic were found (2 reviews; SMD’s ranging from −0.16 to 0.48). In 116 reviews pooled cross-sectional prevalence rates of depression, anxiety, and PTSD symptoms ranged from 9% to 48% across populations. Although heterogeneity between studies was high and largely unexplained, assessment tools and cut-offs used, age, sex or gender, and COVID-19 exposure factors were found to be moderators in some reviews. The major limitations are the inability to quantify and explain the high heterogeneity across reviews included and the shortage of within-person data from multiple longitudinal studies. Conclusions A small but consistent deterioration of mental health and particularly depression during early pandemic and during social restrictions has been found in the general population and in people with chronic somatic disorders. Also, associations between mental health and the pandemic were stronger in females and younger age groups than in others. Explanatory individual-level, COVID-19 exposure, and time-course factors were scarce and showed inconsistencies across reviews. For policy and research, repeated assessments of mental health in population panels including vulnerable individuals are recommended to respond to current and future health crises.

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COVID-19 and common mental health symptoms in the early phase of the pandemic: An umbrella review of the evidence

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused mental and psychological health problems worldwide. The current study assessed the prevalence of mental health issues among university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Mental Health Problem Scale (MHPQ) is a 35-item scale including five subscales—anxiety, depression, stress, OCD, and sleep disorders. In this study, the Kurdish version of the MHPQ was designed and developed to assess the mental health of Iraqi students. This version was established in a cross-sectional study at three public and private universities in Iraqi Kurdistan. A sample of 1504 university students was included who provided their responses via a Google Form questionnaire. The reliability of the scale was determined by measuring the Cronbach’s alpha and item–total correlations. The Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficients of mental health were calculated on a factor basis. The Cronbach’s alpha values were determined to be 0.735 for “anxiety”, 0.780 for “depression”, 0.731 for “stress”, 0.707 for “OCD” and 0.731 for “sleep disorder”. As a result, the psychometric results show that the Mental Health Scale can be used as a valid and reliable assessment tool. According to the findings of the study, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased mental health problems among people worldwide, particularly university students. This research was limited to select participants and universities of Sulaimani Governorate of Iraq; therefore, it is highly recommended that future studies include more students and universities from the Iraqi Kurdistan region. Finally, it is recommended that the Ministry of Higher Education and universities review the university programs and develop the quality of study to reduce mental health problems among university students. The findings of this research show that there were differences between the mental health of the study’s male and female participants. The analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between gender and OCD scores (p = 0.05).

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Prevalence of Mental Health Problems among Iraqi University Students during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Most of the studies that examine the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health have been restricted to pandemic mental health data alone. The aim of the current study was to estimate the pandemic’s effect on young Swiss adults’ mental health by comparing pandemic to pre-pandemic mental health. Longitudinal data of 1175 young Swiss adults who participated in the S-YESMH study in 2018 and were followed-up in 2020 and 2021 were analyzed. The study outcomes were self-reported symptoms of depression, generalized anxiety disorder (GAD), attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), thoughts about death or self-harm, and risky single-occasion drinking (RSOD). Generalized estimation equations, logistic regression and statistical mediation analysis were used to analyze the data. Evidence was found of increased depression, GAD, and ADHD among young women and increased depression among young men, resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Uncertainty about the future predicted young women’s depression and anxiety in 2021. COVID-19 stress in 2021 fully mediated the effect of COVID-19 stress in 2020 on depression and GAD in 2021. Young Swiss women’s and men’s mental health appears to have been adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, especially during the second pandemic year. Uncertainty about the future and stress becoming chronic in 2021 likely explain some of the adverse effects.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/20/3/2598/pdf?version=1675843894

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Young Adults’ Mental Health in Switzerland: A Longitudinal Cohort Study from 2018 to 2021

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.067

A large sample cross-sectional study on mental health challenges among adolescents and young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic at-risk group for loneliness and hopelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9278995

Aya Mesbahi El Aouame

Papers

The global evolution of mental health problems during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-analysis of longitudinal studies

Social mobilization, education, and prevention of the Ebola virus disease: A scoping review.