Zhang Lunbo, Yan Ming, Takashima Kaito, Guo Wenru, Yamada Yuki
Graduate School of Human-Environment Studies, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
Faculty of Arts and Science, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan.
JMIR Res Protoc. 2020 Nov 18;9(11):e24136. doi: 10.2196/24136.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been declared a public health emergency of international concern; this has caused excessive anxiety among health care workers. In addition, publication bias and low-quality publications have become widespread, which can result in the dissemination of unreliable findings.
This paper presents the protocol for a meta-analysis with the following two aims: (1) to examine the prevalence of anxiety among health care workers and determine whether it has increased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and (2) to investigate whether there has been an increase in publication bias.
All related studies that were published/released from 2015 to 2020 will be searched in electronic databases (Web of Science, PubMed, PsyArXiv, and medRxiv). The risk of bias in individual studies will be assessed using the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) checklist. The heterogeneity of the studies will be assessed using the I statistic. The effect size (prevalence rates of anxiety) and a 95% CI for each paper will also be calculated. We will use a moderator analysis to test for the effect of COVID-19 on health care workers' anxiety levels and detect publication bias in COVID-19 studies. We will also assess publication bias using the funnel plot and Egger regression. In case of publication bias, if studies have no homogeneity, the trim-and-fill procedure will be applied to adjust for missing studies.
Database searches will commence in November 2020. The meta-analysis will be completed within 2 months of the start date.
This meta-analysis aims to provide comprehensive evidence about whether COVID-19 increases the prevalence of anxiety among health care workers and whether there has been an increase in publication bias and a deterioration in the quality of publications due to the pandemic. The results of this meta-analysis can provide evidence to help health managers to make informed decisions related to anxiety prevention in health care workers.
INTERNATIONAL REGISTERED REPORT IDENTIFIER (IRRID): PRR1-10.2196/24136.
新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情已被宣布为国际关注的突发公共卫生事件；这在医护人员中引发了过度焦虑。此外，发表偏倚和低质量出版物已变得普遍，这可能导致不可靠研究结果的传播。
本文介绍一项荟萃分析的方案，其具有以下两个目的：（1）研究医护人员焦虑症的患病率，并确定其是否因新型冠状病毒肺炎疫情而增加；（2）调查发表偏倚是否有所增加。
将在电子数据库（科学引文索引、PubMed、PsyArXiv和medRxiv）中检索2015年至2020年发表/发布的所有相关研究。将使用STROBE（加强流行病学观察性研究报告）清单评估个体研究的偏倚风险。将使用I统计量评估研究的异质性。还将计算每篇论文的效应量（焦虑症患病率）和95%置信区间。我们将使用调节分析来检验新型冠状病毒肺炎对医护人员焦虑水平的影响，并检测新型冠状病毒肺炎研究中的发表偏倚。我们还将使用漏斗图和Egger回归评估发表偏倚。如果存在发表偏倚，且研究无同质性，则将应用修剪填充法对缺失研究进行调整。
数据库检索将于2020年11月开始。荟萃分析将在开始日期后的2个月内完成。
这项荟萃分析旨在提供全面证据，证明新型冠状病毒肺炎是否增加了医护人员焦虑症的患病率，以及由于该疫情，发表偏倚是否增加、出版物质量是否下降。这项荟萃分析的结果可为卫生管理人员在医护人员焦虑预防方面做出明智决策提供证据。
国际注册报告识别号（IRRID）：PRR1-10.2196/24136。
