Lake Forest Academy, Lake Forest, IL 60045, USA.
Ann & Robert H Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, Chicago, IL 60611, USA.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2024 Sep 30;21(10):1306. doi: 10.3390/ijerph21101306.
Although significantly increased mental health concerns were noted globally during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, much less is known about the mental health trends during the COVID-19 recovery period. We aimed to compare current anxiety or depression rates to those before and during the first year of the pandemic and to evaluate demographic differences.
We analyzed Household Pulse Survey data prospectively collected from a representative U.S. population sample. We compared the anxiety or depression rates from the first pandemic year (04/2020-05/2021) and recovery period (06/2023-03/2024) from the national cohort and demographic subgroups using two-sided paired -tests and regression analyses and compared these to pre-pandemic (01/2019-12/2019) rates using one-sided -tests.
The national estimates for anxiety or depression improved during the recent COVID-19 recovery period as compared to the first year (29.5 ± 5.5 vs. 37.6 ± 3.1; < 0.0001) but did not return to the pre-pandemic benchmark (29.5% vs. 10.8%; < 0.001). Higher rates were noted in younger individuals aged 18-29 years ( < 0.0001), in individuals with less than a high school diploma ( < 0.0001), or with disabilities ( < 0.0001). Non-Hispanic Asians reported the lowest rates ( < 0.0001), and no significant gender differences were noted.
The U.S. population's mental health concerns have improved since the first year of the pandemic but remain above pre-pandemic benchmarks. Certain demographic subgroups are at higher risk, indicating the need for targeted health care and economic policy interventions to address these disparities.
尽管在 COVID-19 大流行的第一年全球明显增加了对心理健康的关注，但对于 COVID-19 恢复期的心理健康趋势知之甚少。我们旨在将当前的焦虑或抑郁率与大流行前和大流行第一年进行比较，并评估人口统计学差异。
我们前瞻性地分析了来自美国代表性人群样本的家庭脉搏调查数据。我们使用双侧配对检验和回归分析比较了全国队列和人口统计学亚组中第一波大流行年（2020 年 4 月至 2021 年 5 月）和恢复期（2023 年 6 月至 2024 年 3 月）的焦虑或抑郁率，并使用单侧检验将这些与大流行前（2019 年 1 月至 12 月）的比率进行比较。
与第一年相比，近期 COVID-19 恢复期全国范围内的焦虑或抑郁率有所改善（29.5 ± 5.5 对 37.6 ± 3.1；<0.0001），但尚未恢复到大流行前的基准（29.5%对 10.8%；<0.001）。年龄在 18-29 岁的年轻人（<0.0001）、未完成高中学业（<0.0001）或有残疾（<0.0001）的人群中，焦虑或抑郁率更高。非西班牙裔亚洲人报告的比率最低（<0.0001），且没有显著的性别差异。
自大流行第一年以来，美国人口的心理健康问题有所改善，但仍高于大流行前的基准。某些人口统计学亚组的风险更高，这表明需要有针对性的医疗保健和经济政策干预措施来解决这些差异。
