Global prevalence and trend of anxiety among graduate students: A systematic review and meta‐analysis
Abstract Objective To evaluate the comprehensive prevalence of anxiety among postgraduates and estimate its changes with a meta‐analysis. Method Systematic retrieval to SAGE, ERIC, EBSCO, Wiley, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science database was performed for quantitative studi...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2023-04-01
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| Series: | Brain and Behavior |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2909 |
| _version_ | 1797821225115844608 |
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| author | Ting Chi Luying Cheng Zhijie Zhang |
| author_facet | Ting Chi Luying Cheng Zhijie Zhang |
| author_sort | Ting Chi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Objective To evaluate the comprehensive prevalence of anxiety among postgraduates and estimate its changes with a meta‐analysis. Method Systematic retrieval to SAGE, ERIC, EBSCO, Wiley, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science database was performed for quantitative studies on the prevalence of anxiety among graduate students published before November 22, 2022. The prevalence of anxiety synthesized with random‐effects model, and subgroup analysis was conducted by study characteristics (publication year, sampling method, and measurements) and subjects’ characteristics (gender, region, and educational level). Result Fifty studies were included in the meta‐analysis, totaling 39,668 graduate students. The result revealed that 34.8% of graduates suffered from the anxiety (95% CI: 29.5%–40.5%). Specifically, 19.1% (95% CI: 15.4%–23.5%) had mild anxiety, 15.1% (95% C: 11.6%–19.6%) had moderate anxiety, and 10.3% (95% CI: 7.2%–14.6%) had severe anxiety. And this prevalence showed a upward trend since 2005. Besides, master students suffered slightly less than doctoral students (29.2% vs. 34.3%), and female had similar anxiety to male (26.4% vs. 24.9%). Due to the COVID‐19, the prevalence of anxiety is higher after the pandemic than that before (any anxiety: 34.3% vs. 24.8%). Compared with other countries, students from Saudi Arabia, India, and Nepal were more vulnerable. The results of quality assessment showed that, 5 (10%) were in high quality, 21 (42%) were in moderate to high quality, 21 (42%) were in low to moderate quality, and 3 (6%) were in low quality. But, the studies with low quality tend to report a higher prevalence than that with high quality (40.3% vs. 13.0%), studies with nonrandom sampling tend to report a higher prevalence than that with random sampling (33.6% vs. 20.7%). Although we included the data collected based on the standard scales, there were higher heterogeneity among the measure (Q = 253.1, df = 12, p < .00). Conclusion More than one‐third postgraduates suffered from anxiety disorder, and this prevalence had a slight upward trend since 2005, school administrators, teachers and students should take joint actions to prevent mental disorder of graduates for deteriorating. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:49:39Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-82f3b42bfb7a43ce876a2584e2e01912 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2162-3279 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-13T09:49:39Z |
| publishDate | 2023-04-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Brain and Behavior |
| spelling | doaj.art-82f3b42bfb7a43ce876a2584e2e019122023-05-24T14:27:20ZengWileyBrain and Behavior2162-32792023-04-01134n/an/a10.1002/brb3.2909Global prevalence and trend of anxiety among graduate students: A systematic review and meta‐analysisTing Chi0Luying Cheng1Zhijie Zhang2Comprehensive Rehabilitation Center, Gansu Provincial Cancer Hospital GansuChinaSchool of NursingLanzhou University LanzhouGansuChinaDepartment of Sino‐French Neurological Rehabilitation, Gansu Provincial People's Hospital GansuChinaAbstract Objective To evaluate the comprehensive prevalence of anxiety among postgraduates and estimate its changes with a meta‐analysis. Method Systematic retrieval to SAGE, ERIC, EBSCO, Wiley, ScienceDirect, ProQuest, PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science database was performed for quantitative studies on the prevalence of anxiety among graduate students published before November 22, 2022. The prevalence of anxiety synthesized with random‐effects model, and subgroup analysis was conducted by study characteristics (publication year, sampling method, and measurements) and subjects’ characteristics (gender, region, and educational level). Result Fifty studies were included in the meta‐analysis, totaling 39,668 graduate students. The result revealed that 34.8% of graduates suffered from the anxiety (95% CI: 29.5%–40.5%). Specifically, 19.1% (95% CI: 15.4%–23.5%) had mild anxiety, 15.1% (95% C: 11.6%–19.6%) had moderate anxiety, and 10.3% (95% CI: 7.2%–14.6%) had severe anxiety. And this prevalence showed a upward trend since 2005. Besides, master students suffered slightly less than doctoral students (29.2% vs. 34.3%), and female had similar anxiety to male (26.4% vs. 24.9%). Due to the COVID‐19, the prevalence of anxiety is higher after the pandemic than that before (any anxiety: 34.3% vs. 24.8%). Compared with other countries, students from Saudi Arabia, India, and Nepal were more vulnerable. The results of quality assessment showed that, 5 (10%) were in high quality, 21 (42%) were in moderate to high quality, 21 (42%) were in low to moderate quality, and 3 (6%) were in low quality. But, the studies with low quality tend to report a higher prevalence than that with high quality (40.3% vs. 13.0%), studies with nonrandom sampling tend to report a higher prevalence than that with random sampling (33.6% vs. 20.7%). Although we included the data collected based on the standard scales, there were higher heterogeneity among the measure (Q = 253.1, df = 12, p < .00). Conclusion More than one‐third postgraduates suffered from anxiety disorder, and this prevalence had a slight upward trend since 2005, school administrators, teachers and students should take joint actions to prevent mental disorder of graduates for deteriorating.https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2909anxiety disordergraduate studentsmental healthmeta‐analysissystematic review |
| spellingShingle | Ting Chi Luying Cheng Zhijie Zhang Global prevalence and trend of anxiety among graduate students: A systematic review and meta‐analysis Brain and Behavior anxiety disorder graduate students mental health meta‐analysis systematic review |
| title | Global prevalence and trend of anxiety among graduate students: A systematic review and meta‐analysis |
| title_full | Global prevalence and trend of anxiety among graduate students: A systematic review and meta‐analysis |
| title_fullStr | Global prevalence and trend of anxiety among graduate students: A systematic review and meta‐analysis |
| title_full_unstemmed | Global prevalence and trend of anxiety among graduate students: A systematic review and meta‐analysis |
| title_short | Global prevalence and trend of anxiety among graduate students: A systematic review and meta‐analysis |
| title_sort | global prevalence and trend of anxiety among graduate students a systematic review and meta analysis |
| topic | anxiety disorder graduate students mental health meta‐analysis systematic review |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1002/brb3.2909 |
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