Prevalence of depressive symptoms among children and adolescents in china: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Abstract
Depression is a significant health concern among children and adolescents. Previous epidemiological studies on depressive symptoms in this population have yielded inconsistent findings. This study aims to systematically estimate the prevalence of depressive symptoms among Chinese children and adolescents. A comprehensive literature search was conducted in both English (PubMed, EMBASE) and Chinese (China National Knowledge Infrastructure, WANFANG) databases from their inception until October 15, 2024. This meta-analysis employed a random-effects model to estimate the pooled prevalence of depressive symptoms. A total of 439 eligible studies, comprising 1,497,524 participants, were included in the analysis. The pooled point prevalence of depressive symptoms among children and adolescents was found to be 26.17% (95% CI 25.00–27.41%), with significant heterogeneity among studies (I2 = 100%, p < 0.001). The most commonly used scales were the SDS and CES-D; the SDS reported a higher prevalence (28.80%, 95% CI 26.88–30.85%) compared to the CES-D (24.50%, 95% CI 22.49–26.68%). There was no clear temporal trend in the prevalence of depressive symptoms over time (r = 0.03, P = 0.74). The highest pooled prevalence was observed in high school students (28.23%, 95% CI 25.58–31.15%), followed by undergraduate students (27.72%, 95% CI 25.79–29.79%) and middle school students (24.15%, 95% CI 21.61–27.00%). Among the provinces, Inner Mongolia exhibited the lowest prevalence (18.43%, 95% CI…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a meta-analysis, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 1,497,524 participants or records.
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