Prevalence of depression among physicians: A comprehensive meta-analysis

Abstract

Depression among medical personnel is recognized worldwide as a serious problem, yet quantitative syntheses of prevalence studies are rare. We proceeded quantify and understand prevalence variation among physicians at the global levels. For this meta-analysis, we searched 6 databases, including: PsycINFO, Web of Science, PubMed, ProQuest using a comprehensive search strategy to identify prevalence of the physicians’ depression studies in the literature, published from inception of 1979. Studies reporting estimates of depression prevalence in physicians were included in the analyses. Studies quality was assessed with a prevalence risk of bias tool. Meta-regression was used to explore heterogeneity of the moderators we included in the analysis. Of the 3,156 studies initially identified, 33 were eligible for inclusion. These studies were geographically diverse (15 countries). The pooled prevalence rate for overall elder abuse was .243 (CI [.188; .306]; p<.001). Meta-analysis of studies that included overall abuse revealed heterogeneity. Significant associations were found between overall prevalence estimates and region, but not for sampling allocation and severity of depression. In this meta-analysis, the summary estimate of the prevalence of depression among physicians is 24.3%, ranging from 2% to 65.3 % depending on the region from the studies. Further research is needed to identify effective strategies for preventing and treating depression among physicians.