Table 3.
Summary of meta-analytic results.
| Domains/Outcomes | K | N | Pooled effect size Hedges’g (p) | 95% Confidence Intervals | Heterogeneity statistics | Egger's t test for publication bias (p) | Trim and fill | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LL | UL | Q (df) | P | I2 | ||||||
| Comparison of levels of psychological distress between pwMS and HC during the Covid-19 pandemic | ||||||||||
| Depression | 7 | 5509 | 0.51 (0.001) | 0.23 | 0.79 | 111.60 (6) | <0.001 | 94.62 | 2.19 (0.080) | 0 |
| Anxiety | 6 | 4223 | 0.41 (0.032) | 0.03 | 0.78 | 115.61 (5) | <0.001 | 95.67 | 1.30 (0.265) | 0 |
| Sleep disturbances | 2 | 955 | 0.41 (0.065) | -0.02 | 0.84 | 4.60 (1) | 0.032 | 78.25 | - | - |
| Stress | 3 | 1998 | 0.51 (0.016) | 0.10 | 0.92 | 32.41 (2) | <0.001 | 93.83 | 3.30 (0.188) | 0 |
| Comparison of levels of psychological distress in pwMS before and during the Covid-19 lockdown | ||||||||||
| Depression | 6 | 2675 | 0.02 (0.772) | -0.10 | 0.13 | 14.19 (5) | 0.014 | 64.76 | 0.00 (0.997) | 0 |
| Anxiety | 6 | 2675 | 0.08 (0.380) | -0.10 | 0.26 | 38.12 (5) | <0.001 | 86.89 | 0.61 (0.572) | 0 |
| Mental QoL | 5 | 460 | -0.14 (0.060) | -0.28 | 0.01 | 8.31 (4) | 0.081 | 51.86 | -0.01 (0.992) | 0 |
| Physical QoL | 5 | 460 | 0.00 (0.986) | -0.10 | 0.10 | 4.56 (4) | 0.335 | 12.31 | 0.14 (0.900) | 0 |
| Sleep disturbances | 2 | 67 | 0.52 (<0.001) | 0.27 | 0.77 | 0.15 (1) | 0.703 | 0 | - | - |
K= number of studies; N= total number of participants; LL= Lower Limit; UP= Upper Limit; Q and I2 =heterogeneity statistics; df= degrees of freedom; pwMS = people with Multiple Sclerosis; HC = Healthy Controls. Statistically significant values are reported in bold.