Prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND:Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, profoundly impacting an individual's performance and quality of life. Due to their unique working conditions, nursing is counted among the occupational groups at high risk for developing depression. Because of the shortage of nur...

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Main Authors: Nanzhen Xie, Yan Qin, Taiwu Wang, Ying Zeng, Xia Deng, Li Guan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2020-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235448
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author Nanzhen Xie
Yan Qin
Taiwu Wang
Ying Zeng
Xia Deng
Li Guan
author_facet Nanzhen Xie
Yan Qin
Taiwu Wang
Ying Zeng
Xia Deng
Li Guan
author_sort Nanzhen Xie
collection DOAJ
description BACKGROUND:Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, profoundly impacting an individual's performance and quality of life. Due to their unique working conditions, nursing is counted among the occupational groups at high risk for developing depression. Because of the shortage of nursing resources in China, Chinese nurses suffer from heavy daily workloads more than those in many other countries. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and analyse the potential risk factors of depressive symptoms in Chinese nurses. METHODS:A systematic literature search in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Chinese BioMedical Literature Database (CBM), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and the Weipu and Wanfang databases up to Dec 31st, 2019 was performed regarding the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Chinese nurses. Eligibility assessment and data extraction were performed independently by 2 researchers, and meta-analysis was used to synthesize the data. Heterogeneity was evaluated using Cochran's Q test and quantified using the I2 statistic. To explore the potential source of heterogeneity, subgroup analyses were also performed. In addition, both funnel plot and Egger's tests were adopted to assess publication bias. RESULTS:A total of 102 studies published from 1996 to 2019 covering 22 provinces were included for further analysis. The total number of participants was 52,592, with a range of 46 to 7205 per study. The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms in Chinese nurses was 43.83% (95%CI: 40.26%-47.42%), and 31.12% (95%CI: 27.30%-35.07%) were classified as mild degrees of depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms may be significantly affected by region, province or municipality and department marital status. Moreover, an increasing trend in the prevalence of depressive symptoms was observed in recent years. CONCLUSION:The results presented a high prevalence of depressive symptoms among Chinese nurses, which suggests interventional programmes by health decision-makers to improving the mental state of nurses is needed urgently, especially in nurses with high risk factors for depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the nationwide investigation of depressive symptoms prevalence should be performed with a standard diagnostic tool, which may be more useful for policy makers and planners.
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spelling doaj.art-c21da634b01d4ebaa9156155a1adfa1a2022-12-21T23:30:56ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032020-01-01157e023544810.1371/journal.pone.0235448Prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Nanzhen XieYan QinTaiwu WangYing ZengXia DengLi GuanBACKGROUND:Depression is one of the most common mental disorders, profoundly impacting an individual's performance and quality of life. Due to their unique working conditions, nursing is counted among the occupational groups at high risk for developing depression. Because of the shortage of nursing resources in China, Chinese nurses suffer from heavy daily workloads more than those in many other countries. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the overall prevalence of depressive symptoms and analyse the potential risk factors of depressive symptoms in Chinese nurses. METHODS:A systematic literature search in PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, the Chinese BioMedical Literature Database (CBM), the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), and the Weipu and Wanfang databases up to Dec 31st, 2019 was performed regarding the prevalence of depressive symptoms in Chinese nurses. Eligibility assessment and data extraction were performed independently by 2 researchers, and meta-analysis was used to synthesize the data. Heterogeneity was evaluated using Cochran's Q test and quantified using the I2 statistic. To explore the potential source of heterogeneity, subgroup analyses were also performed. In addition, both funnel plot and Egger's tests were adopted to assess publication bias. RESULTS:A total of 102 studies published from 1996 to 2019 covering 22 provinces were included for further analysis. The total number of participants was 52,592, with a range of 46 to 7205 per study. The overall prevalence of depressive symptoms in Chinese nurses was 43.83% (95%CI: 40.26%-47.42%), and 31.12% (95%CI: 27.30%-35.07%) were classified as mild degrees of depressive symptoms. The prevalence of depressive symptoms may be significantly affected by region, province or municipality and department marital status. Moreover, an increasing trend in the prevalence of depressive symptoms was observed in recent years. CONCLUSION:The results presented a high prevalence of depressive symptoms among Chinese nurses, which suggests interventional programmes by health decision-makers to improving the mental state of nurses is needed urgently, especially in nurses with high risk factors for depressive symptoms. Furthermore, the nationwide investigation of depressive symptoms prevalence should be performed with a standard diagnostic tool, which may be more useful for policy makers and planners.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235448
spellingShingle Nanzhen Xie
Yan Qin
Taiwu Wang
Ying Zeng
Xia Deng
Li Guan
Prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
PLoS ONE
title Prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_full Prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_fullStr Prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_full_unstemmed Prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_short Prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses in China: A systematic review and meta-analysis.
title_sort prevalence of depressive symptoms among nurses in china a systematic review and meta analysis
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0235448
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