{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,7,30]],"date-time":"2026-07-30T09:40:29Z","timestamp":1785404429922,"version":"3.56.0"},"reference-count":18,"publisher":"AOSIS","issue":"1","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,29]],"date-time":"2024-02-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1709164800000},"content-version":"unspecified","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: This review mapped the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) and the adult general population in Africa.\n\nAim: The study focussed on anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide cases to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of the selected population.\n\nMethod: A scoping review was conducted on relevant database and search engines. The search resulted in 143 studies. Five studies met the inclusion criteria for synthesis.\n\nResults: Results indicated anxiety was more prevalent among HCWs as opposed to the adult general population, which was in the rise of suicide cases. Among HCWs, mental health was negatively impacted by the loss of their infected patients and concerns over infecting family members. The adult general population was impacted because of isolation and their fear of contracting the virus.\n\nConclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic led to the increase of mental health issues among HCWs as evidenced by a high prevalence of anxiety compared to that of the adult general population. There was, however, a rise in depression and suicide cases among the adult general population.\n\nContribution: This study will assist in adding more knowledge to build a robust and responsive strategy to mental health problems during and post-pandemics like COVID-19. Strategies that have appeared effective in combatting the impact of COVID-19 on mental health include support packages established for frontline HCWs such as social media online chat groups.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.4102\/phcfm.v16i1.4175","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,29]],"date-time":"2024-02-29T19:00:59Z","timestamp":1709233259000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Mental health impact of COVID-19 on healthcare workers versus adults in Africa"],"prefix":"10.4102","volume":"16","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9178-3412","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mutshidzi","family":"Mulondo","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/009xwd568","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Free State"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0428-7710","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sithembiso","family":"Ndlovu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/009xwd568","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Free State"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2768-5631","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"James","family":"Ndirangu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/009xwd568","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Free State"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-4888-1973","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Joyce","family":"Tsoka-Gwegweni","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/009xwd568","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}],"name":"University of the Free State"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"2580","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref0","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Shaukat N, Ali DM, Razzak J. Physical and mental health impacts of COVID-19 on healthcare workers: A scoping review. Int J Emerg Med. 2020 Dec;13(1):1\u20138. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1186\/s12245-020-00299-5","DOI":"10.1186\/s12245-020-00299-5"},{"key":"ref1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"De Figueiredo CS, Sandre PC, Portugal LC, et al. COVID-19 pandemic impact on children and adolescents\u2019 mental health: Biological, environmental, and social factors. Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2021 Mar 2;106:110171. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.pnpbp.2020.110171","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pnpbp.2020.110171"},{"key":"ref2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Tsamakis K, Rizos E, Manolis AJ, et al. [Comment] COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on mental health of healthcare professionals. Exp Ther Med. 2020 Jun 1;19(6):3451\u20133453. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3892\/etm.2020.8646","DOI":"10.3892\/etm.2020.8646"},{"key":"ref3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Xiong J, Lipsitz O, Nasri F, et al. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health in the general population: A systematic review. J Affect Disord. 2020 Aug 8;277: 55\u201364. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jad.2020.08.001","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jad.2020.08.001"},{"key":"ref4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gruber J, Prinstein MJ, Clark LA, et al. Mental health and clinical psychological science in the time of COVID-19: Challenges, opportunities, and a call to action. Am Psychol. 2021 Apr;76(3):409. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1037\/amp0000707","DOI":"10.1037\/amp0000707"},{"key":"ref5","unstructured":"Ferguson N, Laydon D, Nedjati-Gilani G, et al. Report 9: Impact of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) to reduce COVID19 mortality and healthcare demand. Sci Open. 2020 Mar 16;10(77482):491\u2013497."},{"key":"ref6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Spoorthy MS, Pratapa SK, Mahant S. Mental health problems faced by healthcare workers because of the COVID-19 pandemic \u2013 A review. Asian J Psychiatr. 2020;51:102119. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.ajp.2020.102119","DOI":"10.1016\/j.ajp.2020.102119"},{"key":"ref7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Galderisi S, Heinz A, Kastrup M, Beezhold J, Sartorius N. Toward a new definition of mental health. World Psychiatry. 2015;14(2):231. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/wps.20231","DOI":"10.1002\/wps.20231"},{"key":"ref8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Magamela MR, Dzinamarira T, Hlongwa M. COVID-19 consequences on mental health: An African perspective. S Afr J Psychiatry. 2021;27:1611. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/sajpsychiatry.v27i0.1611","DOI":"10.4102\/sajpsychiatry.v27i0.1611"},{"key":"ref9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kim AW, Nyengerai T, Mendenhall E. Evaluating the mental health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic: Perceived risk of COVID-19 infection and childhood trauma predict adult depressive symptoms in urban South Africa. Psychol Med. 2020;52(8):1587\u20131599. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1017\/S0033291720003414","DOI":"10.1017\/S0033291720003414"},{"key":"ref10","unstructured":"Marks M. Drug regulation for the COVID-19 mental health crisis. Admin Law Rev. 2020;72:649\u2013650."},{"key":"ref11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Gloster AT, Lamnisos D, Lubenko J, et al. Impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: An international study. PLoS One. 2020;15(12):e0244809. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1371\/journal.pone.0244809","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0244809"},{"key":"ref12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"WHO coronavirus disease (COVID-19) dashboard. Global situation [homepage on the Internet]. 2020 [cited 2021 Jan 10]. Available from: https:\/\/covid19.who.int\/","DOI":"10.46945\/bpj.10.1.03.01"},{"key":"ref13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mulondo MA, Ndlovu SMS, Ndirangu JN, Tsoka-Gwegweni JM. Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of health-care workers vs the adult general population in South Africa. Popul Med. 2023;5(Suppl.):A1316. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.18332\/popmed\/163698","DOI":"10.18332\/popmed\/163698"},{"key":"ref14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Mogaka JJ, Tsoka-Gwegweni JM, Mupara LM, Mashamba-Thompson T. Role, structure and effects of medical tourism in Africa: A systematic scoping review protocol. BMJ Open. 2017;7(6):e013021. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/bmjopen-2016-013021","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjopen-2016-013021"},{"key":"ref15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Htay MN, Marzo RR, AlRifai A, et al. Immediate impact of COVID-19 on mental health and its associated factors among healthcare workers: A global perspective across 31 countries. J Glob Health. 2020 Dec;10(2):020381. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.7189\/jogh.10.020381","DOI":"10.7189\/jogh.10.020381"},{"key":"ref16","unstructured":"Ammar A, Trabelsi K, Brach M, et al. Effects of home confinement on mental health and lifestyle behaviours during the COVID-19 outbreak: Insights from the ECLB-COVID19 multicentre study. Biol Sport. 2021 Mar;38(1):9."},{"key":"ref17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"El Hayek S, Cheaito MA, Nofal M, et al. Geriatric mental health and COVID-19: An eye-opener to the situation of the Arab countries in the Middle East and North Africa Region. Am J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2020;28(10):1058\u20131069. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1016\/j.jagp.2020.05.009","DOI":"10.1016\/j.jagp.2020.05.009"}],"container-title":["African Journal of Primary Health Care &amp; Family Medicine"],"original-title":[],"link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/phcfm.org\/index.php\/phcfm\/article\/viewFile\/4175\/6807","content-type":"text\/html","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/phcfm.org\/index.php\/phcfm\/article\/viewFile\/4175\/6808","content-type":"application\/epub+zip","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/phcfm.org\/index.php\/phcfm\/article\/viewFile\/4175\/6809","content-type":"text\/xml","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/phcfm.org\/index.php\/phcfm\/article\/viewFile\/4175\/6810","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"text-mining"},{"URL":"https:\/\/phcfm.org\/index.php\/phcfm\/article\/view\/4175\/6810","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,23]],"date-time":"2026-04-23T10:52:09Z","timestamp":1776941529000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/phcfm.org\/index.php\/phcfm\/article\/view\/4175"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,29]]},"references-count":18,"journal-issue":{"issue":"1","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2023,12,21]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.4102\/phcfm.v16i1.4175","relation":{},"ISSN":["2071-2928","2071-2936"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2071-2928","type":"print"},{"value":"2071-2936","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2024,2,29]]},"article-number":"a4175"}}