Table 2.
Characteristics and anxiety prevalence of the selected studies.
| Reference | Study Design | Population Type | Country | Sample Size | Assessment Tools | Prevalence of Anxiety (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aharon et al., 2020 [27] | Cross-sectional | General population | Israel and Italy | 1015 | PHQ-4, SF-8 | 50.2% of Italian and 42.2% of Israelis |
| Albagmi et al., 2012 [28] | Cross-sectional | General population | Saudi Arabia | 3017 | GAD-7 | 80% (mild), 11.4% (moderate), 8.2% (severe) |
| Alshekaili et al., 2020 [29] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | Oman | 1139 | DASS-21 | 34.1% |
| Antonijevic et al., 2020 [30] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | Serbia | 1678 | GAD-7 | 43.31% (minimal), 30.9% (mild), 12.99% (moderate),12.8% (severe). |
| Ausin et al., 2020 [31] | longitudinal | General population | Spain | 1041 | GAD-2 | N/A |
| Batterham et al., 2021 [32] | longitudinal | General population | Australia | 1296 | GAD-7, PHQ-9 | 77% |
| Bendau et al., 2020 [11] | Longitudinal | General population | Germany | 2376 | GAD-2, PHQ-4 | N/A |
| Budimir et al., 2021 [33] | Cross-sectional | General population | Austria and UK | 2011 | GAD-7 | 18.9% UK and 6% Austria |
| Cai et al., 2020 [34] | case-control | Healthcare workers | China | 2346 | BAI | Frontline 15.7%, non-frontline 7.4% |
| Canet-Juric et al., 2020 [35] | longitudinal | General population | Argentina | 6057 | STAI | N/A |
| Cao et al., 2020 [36] | Cluster Sampling | University Students | China | 7143 | GAD-7 | Mild (21.3%), moderate (2.7%), severe (0.9%) |
| Chen et al., 2021 [37] | Cross-sectional | General population (quarantined) | China | 1837 | STAI | 16.3% |
| Chew et al., 2020 [38] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | India, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam | 1146 | DASS-21 | India (0.8%), Singapore (3.6%), Vietnam (6.7%), Indonesia (6.8%) and Malaysia (14.9%) |
| Dawel et al., 2020 [39] | longitudinal | General population | Australia | 1296 | GAD-7, PHQ-9, WHO-5 | N/A |
| Denning et al., 2021 [40] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | UK, Poland and Singapore | 3537 | HADS | 20% |
| Di Blasi et al., 2021 [41] | longitudinal | General population | Italy | 1129 | DASS-21 | N/A |
| Di Giuseppe et al., 2020 [42] | Cross-sectional | General population | Italy | 5683 | SCL-90 | 51.1% |
| Di Mattei et al., 2021 [43] | Baseline assessment | Healthcare workers | Italy | 1055 | DASS-21 | 69.4% |
| Fiorillo et al., 2020 [44] | longitudinal | General population | Italy | 20,720 | DASS-21, GHQ | Moderate (16.7%) and severe or extremely severe (17.6%) |
| Fisher et al., 2020 [45] | Cross-sectional | General Population | Australia | 13,829 | GAD-7, PHQ-9 | 21% |
| Fu et al., 2020 [46] | Cross-sectional | General population | China | 1242 | GAD-7, PHQ-9 | 27.6% |
| Fu et al., 2021 [47] | Cross-sectional | University students | China | 89,588 | GAD-7 | 41.1% |
| Gainer et al., 2021 [48] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | US | 1724 | GAD-7, PHQ-9 | 36.5% |
| Garcia-Fernandez et al., 2020 [49] | Cross-sectional | Elderly population | Spain | 1639 | HARS | N/A |
| Garcia-Fernandez et al., 2020 [50] | Cross-sectional | General population | Spain | 1635 | HARS | N/A |
| Giardino et al., 2020 [51] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | Argentina | 1059 | DASS-18 | 76.5% |
| Gundogmus et al., 2021 [52] | longitudinal | Healthcare Workers | Turkey | 2460 | DASS-21 | 29.6% |
| Hacimusalar et al., 2020 [53] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare, non-healthcare | Turkey | 2156 | STAI | 89.5% |
| Halperin et al., 2021 [54] | Cross-sectional | University students | US | 1428 | GAD-7, PHQ-9 | 30.6% |
| Hammarberg et al., 2020 [55] | Cross-sectional | General population | Australia | 13,762 | GAD-7 | 21.8% females, 14.2% males |
| Hassannia et al., 2021 [56] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers and general population | Iran | 2045 | HADS | 65.6% |
| He et al., 2021 [57] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | China | 1971 | GAD-7 | 29.3% |
| Hennein et al., 2021 [58] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | US | 1092 | GAD-7 | 15.6% |
| Huang et al., 2021 [59] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | Singapore | 1638 | GAD-7 | 12.5% |
| Islaml et al., 2020 [60] | Cross-sectional | University students | Bangladesh | 3122 | DASS-21 | Mild anxiety (71.5%), moderate (63.6%), severe (40.3%) and very severe (27.5%). |
| Jacques-Avino et al., 2020 [61] | Cross-sectional | General population | Spain | 7053 | GAD-7 | 31.2% females, 17.7% males |
| Jia et al., 2020 [62] | Cross-sectional | General population | UK | 3097 | GAD-7 | 57% (26% moderate to severe anxiety) |
| Jiang et al., 2020 [63] | Cross-sectional | General population | China | 60,199 | SAI | Mild (33.21%), moderate (41.27%) and severe (22.99%). |
| Johnson et al., 2021 [64] | longitudinal | Parents | Norway | 2868 | GAD-7 | N/A |
| Kantor and Kantor, 2020 [65] | Cross-sectional | General population | US | 1005 | GAD-7 | 52.1% mild, 26.8% anxiety disorder |
| Karaivazoglou et al., 2021 [66] | Cross-sectional | General population | Greece | 1443 | HADS | 20% |
| Khubchandani et al. 2021 [67] | Cross-sectional | General population | US | 1978 | GAD-2, PHQ-4 | 42% |
| Kim et al., 2021 [68] | longitudinal | University Students | US | 8613 | GAD | No significant changes were found in the rates of anxiety from before the pandemic. |
| Lai et al., 2020 [69] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | China | 1257 | GAD-7 | 44.6% |
| Lei et al., 2020 [70] | Cross-sectional | General population | China | 1593 | SAS | 8.3% |
| Li et al., 2020 [71] | Cross-sectional | Teachers | China | 88,611 | GAD-7 | 13.67% |
| Li et al., 2021 [72] | Cross-sectional | General population | China | 1201 | DASS-21 | 34.2% |
| Liu et al., 2021 [73] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | China | 1090 | GAD-7 | 13.3% |
| Liu et al., 2020 [74] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers (paediatric) | China | 2031 | DASS-21 | 18.3% |
| Lu et al., 2020a [75] | Cross-sectional | General population and frontline workers | China | 1417 | GAD-7 | 52.1% of the general public and 56% of frontline workers |
| Lu et al., 2020b [76] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | China | 2299 | HAMA | 22.6% of medical staff showed mild to moderate anxiety and 2.9% were severe |
| Luceno-Moreno et al., 2020 [77] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | Spain | 1422 | HADS | 58.6% healthcare workers presented with an anxiety disorder. |
| Mattila et al., 2020 [78] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | Finland | 1995 | GAD-7 | 30% mild anxiety, 10% moderate and 5% severe anxiety. |
| Meesala et al., 2021 [79] | Cross-sectional | General population | India | 1346 | CAS-7 | N/A |
| Mosheva et al., 2020 [80] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | Israel | 1106 | PROMIS | 52.8% |
| Ngoc Cong Duong et al., 2020 [81] | Cross-sectional | General population | Vietnam | 1385 | DASS-21 | 14.1% |
| Nkire et al., 2021 [82] | Cross-sectional | General population | Canada | 6041 | GAD-7 | 46.7% |
| Odriozola-Gonzalez et al., 2020 [83] | Cross-sectional | University students and workers. | Spain | 2530 | DASS-21, IES | 21.34% |
| Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2021 [84] | Cross-sectional | Teachers | Spain | 1633 | DASS-21 | 49.5% (8.1% extreme severe and 7.6% severe) |
| Ozamiz-Etxebarria et al., 2020 [85] | longitudinal | General population | Spain | 1933 | DASS-21 | 26.9% |
| Pandey et al., 2020 [86] | Cross-sectional | General population | India | 1395 | DASS-21 | Anxiety prevalence was 22.4% in the second week and 26.6% in the third week of lockdowns |
| Passavanti et al., 2021 [87] | Cross-sectional | General population | Australia, Iran, China, Ecuador, Italy, Norway and the US | 1612 | DASS-21 | 44.7% (5.2% mild, 17.4% moderate, 5.8% severe and 16.3% extremely severe). |
| Pieh et al., 2021 [88] | Cross-sectional | General population | UK | 1006 | GAD-7 | 39% |
| Peih et al., 2020 [89] | Cross-sectional | General population | Austria | 1005 | GAD-7 | 19% |
| Planchuelo-Gomez et al., 2020 [90] | longitudinal | General population | Spain | 4724 | DASS-21 | 49.66% |
| Robb et al., 2020 [91] | Cross-sectional | Elderly population | UK | 7127 | HADS | N/A |
| Rossi et al., 2020 [92] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers and general population | Italy | 24,050 | GAD-7 | 21.25% in the general population, 18.05% in second line healthcare workers and 20.55% in frontline workers. |
| Ruengorn et al., 2020 [93] | Cross-sectional | General population | Thailand | 2303 | GAD-7 | 56.9% |
| Serafim et al., 2021 [94] | Cross-sectional | General population | Brazil | 3000 | DASS-21 | 39.7% |
| Shen et al., 2020 [95] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare Workers | China | 1637 | SAS | 10.02% |
| Sinawi et al., 2021 [96] | Cross-sectional | General Population | Oman | 1538 | GAD-7 | 22% |
| Solomou et al., 2020 [97] | Cohort study | General population | Cyprus | 1642 | GAD-7 | 41% mild, 23.1% moderate-severe |
| Sun et al., 2021 [98] | Cross-sectional | University Students | China | 1912 | GAD-7 | 34.73% |
| Tang et al., 2020 [99] | Cross-sectional | General population | China | 1389 | GAD-7 | 70.78% |
| Van der Velden et al., 2020 [100] | Longitudinal | General population | Holland | 3983 | GAD-7 | No significant anxiety found |
| Wang et al., 2021a [101] | Case-control | General population | China | 1674 | ADS | 27% in quarantined, 11.2% in general population |
| Wang et al., 2021b [102] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | China | 1063 | GAD-7 | 48.7% in patients, 25.7% general population, 13.3% healthcare |
| Wang et al., 2020 [103] | Cross-sectional | General, covid and health | China | 49,015 | DASS-21 | 10.02% |
| Wanigasooriya et al., 2021 [104] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | UK | 2638 | PHQ-4 | 34.31% |
| Warren et al., 2021 [105] | Cross-sectional | General population | United States | 5023 | PHQ-4 | 14.4% |
| Wathelet et al., 2020 [106] | Cross-sectional | University Students | France | 69,054 | STAI | 27.47% |
| Wu et al., 2020 [107] | Cross-sectional | General population | China | 24,789 | STAI | 51.6% |
| Yuan et al., 2020 [108] | Cross-sectional | Police | China | 3517 | HADS | 8.79% |
| Zhang et al., 2020a [109] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | China | 2143 | GAD-7 | 14.23% |
| Zhang et al., 2020b [110] | Cross-sectional | General population | China | 123,768 | GAD-7 | 3.4% |
| Zhou et al., 2020 [111] | Cross-sectional | Healthcare workers | China | 1705 | SAS | 45.4% |
| Zilver et al., 2021 [112] | Cohort study | Pregnant women | Holland | 1466 | GAD-7 | 19.5% |
Key: GAD-7, Generalised Anxiety Disorder—7 Item Scale; DASS-21, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale—21 Item; PHQ-4, Patient Health Questionnaire—4 Item; SAS, Self-Rating Anxiety Scale; HARS. Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale; SCL-90, Symptom Checklist—90 Item; CAS, Coronavirus Anxiety Scale; PROMIS, Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System; STAI, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale.