Citation

Rahimi-Ardabili H, Feng X, Nguyen PY, Astell-Burt T. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022; 19(19).

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, MDPI: Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute)

DOI

10.3390/ijerph191912835

PMID

36232135

PMCID

PMC9564909

Abstract

This systematic review synthesized literature on potential impacts of protracted isolation and other disruptions during the COVID-19 pandemic on deaths of despair (suicide, overdoses, and drug-related liver diseases). Five electronic databases were searched yielding 70 eligible articles. Extant evidence mostly from high-income countries indicates COVID-19-related disruption may not have influenced suicide rates so far, but there have been reports of increased drug-related and liver disease mortality. Minority groups and women were more vulnerable, indicating the need for stronger equity focus on pandemic recovery and resilience strategies. Further high-quality studies with longer-term follow-up, especially from low-income countries, will inform these strategies.

Language: en

Keywords

Humans; Female; COVID-19; suicide; systematic review; *Suicide; overdose; Income; Pandemics; deaths of despair; *COVID-19; *Drug Overdose/epidemiology