Li Chencheng, Tan Qinyi, Zou Manxing, Zeng Liang, Kang Muyun, Chen Lisha
Center for Studies of Education and Psychology of Ethnic Minorities in Southwest China, Southwest University, Chongqing, CHN.
Department of Natural Medicinal Chemistry, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, CHN.
Cureus. 2022 Jan 14;14(1):e21228. doi: 10.7759/cureus.21228. eCollection 2022 Jan.
Background As early as before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, nearly one billion people worldwide suffered from mental health problems. Of all the mental health conditions, major depressive disorder (MDD) is the leading cause of global health-related burden. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many uncertain factors affecting mental health accumulated, such as virus transmission, blockade and ban, public transport restrictions, closure of schools and enterprises, and reduction of social interaction, which led to an increase in the potential risk of MDD, further increasing the global health-related burden. Methodology To better clarify the public interest in major depressive disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic, a Google Trends analysis was employed with data from December 2019 to December 2021, taking the cumulative diagnosis rate and cumulative mortality rate of COVID-19 as the reference standard, The changes in public interest and behavior in online searching for major depressive disorder in the three countries most affected by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus (i.e. the United States, Brazil, and India) were evaluated. Results We observed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, public interest in major depressive disorder increased significantly on the Internet. At the same time, compared with the United States, this upward trend is more prominent in India and Brazil. The study found that the major depressive disorder search index of the United States reached the maximum at the end of September 2021, the major depressive disorder search index of Brazil reached the maximum at the beginning of July 2021, and the major depressive disorder search index of India reached the maximum at the beginning of June 2021. The above time nodes are the first turning point of decline after the continuous surge of COVID-19 confirmed cases in the United States, Brazil, and India, indicating that there is an important time correlation between the surge of COVID-19 cases and the public online search term major depressive disorder. Conclusion The Google Trends analysis shows that public interest in major depressive disorder is on the rise under the COVID-19 pandemic and that COVID-19 may be associated with MDD. These findings deserve further exploration, especially as a growing body of research reports suggests that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a surge in the prevalence of MDD. The epidemic alerts the vast majority of countries to urgently strengthen mental health systems and provide patients with the necessary interventions based on the determinants of poor mental health.
早在2019冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行之前，全球就有近10亿人患有心理健康问题。在所有心理健康状况中，重度抑郁症（MDD）是全球健康相关负担的主要原因。在COVID-19大流行期间，积累了许多影响心理健康的不确定因素，如病毒传播、封锁和禁令、公共交通限制、学校和企业关闭以及社交互动减少，这导致MDD的潜在风险增加，进一步加重了全球健康相关负担。方法：为了更好地阐明COVID-19大流行期间公众对重度抑郁症的关注情况，采用谷歌趋势分析，数据来自2019年12月至2021年12月，以COVID-19的累计诊断率和累计死亡率作为参考标准，评估了受严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）病毒影响最严重的三个国家（即美国、巴西和印度）在线搜索重度抑郁症时公众兴趣和行为的变化。结果：我们观察到，在COVID-19大流行期间，互联网上公众对重度抑郁症的兴趣显著增加。同时，与美国相比，这种上升趋势在印度和巴西更为突出。研究发现，美国的重度抑郁症搜索指数在2021年9月底达到最高，巴西的重度抑郁症搜索指数在2021年7月初达到最高，印度的重度抑郁症搜索指数在2021年6月初达到最高。上述时间节点是美国、巴西和印度COVID-19确诊病例持续激增后的第一个下降转折点，表明COVID-19病例激增与公众在线搜索词重度抑郁症之间存在重要的时间相关性。结论：谷歌趋势分析表明，在COVID-19大流行期间，公众对重度抑郁症的兴趣在上升，且COVID-19可能与MDD有关。这些发现值得进一步探索，尤其是越来越多的研究报告表明，COVID-19大流行导致MDD患病率激增。这一疫情提醒绝大多数国家紧急加强心理健康系统，并根据心理健康不佳的决定因素为患者提供必要的干预措施。
