Prevalence of delirium, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder among COVID-19 patients: protocol for a living systematic review

Abstract Background Previous studies on the impact of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on the mental health of the patients has been limited by the lack of relevant data. With the rapid and sustained growth of the publications on COVID-19 research, we will perform a living systematic review (LSR) to provide comprehensive and continuously updated data to explore the prevalence of delirium, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) among COVID-19 patients. Methods We will perform a comprehensive search of the following databases: Cochrane Library, PubMed, Web of Science, EMBASE, and Chinese Biomedicine Literature to identify relevant studies. We will include peer-reviewed cross-sectional studies published in English and Chinese. Two reviewers will independently assess the methodological quality of included studies using the Joanna Briggs Institute Prevalence Critical Appraisal tool and perform data extraction. In the absence of clinical heterogeneity, the prevalence estimates with a 95% confidence interval (CI) of delirium, depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) will be calculated by using random-effects model to minimize the effect of between-study heterogeneity separately. The literature searches will be updated every 3 months. We will perform meta-analysis if any new eligible studies or data are obtained. We will resubmit an updated review when there were relevant changes in the results, i.e., when outcomes became statistically significant (or not statistically significant anymore) or when heterogeneity became substantial (or not substantial anymore). Discussion This LSR will provide an in-depth and up-to-date summary of whether the common neuropsychiatric conditions observed in patients hospitalized for severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) are also prevalent in a different stage of COVID-19 patients. Systematic review registration PROSPERO CRD42020196610