The Effects of COVID-19 Epidemic on the Mental Health of Migrants around the World: A Systematic Review

Abdollah Rahmani[1], Mohsen Rezaeian[2] Received: 16/04/22  Sent for Revision: 06/06/22 Received Revised Manuscript: 10/08/22 Accepted: 16/08/22 Background and Objectives: Immigrants are considered as a group at risk of mental health resulting from Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), due to living conditions and less access to health services. Therefore, the present review study was conducted with the aim of determining the effects of COVID-19 epidemic on the mental health of immigrants in the world. Materials and Methods: This study is a systematic review. Keywords are COVID-19 pandemic, Immigrants and COVID-19, Mental health and COVID-19, Immigrants and Mental health, and their Persian equivalents in the related articles indexed in MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science databases, and Google Scholar from 2019 to 2021. Articles were reviewed according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. Analysis was performed qualitatively and descriptively, and the results were summarized in the form of flow chart and tables. Results: By searching the database, 740 articles were obtained, and finally 31 articles were included in the study. The articles were classified into four categories including: original research articles (13 articles), review articles (3 articles), comments and viewpoints (6 articles), and other articles (letters to the editor, editorials, qualitative articles) including 9 articles. Conclusion: The results of published studies showed that COVID-19 epidemic is an important risk factor for mental health disorders of migrants and refugees. It seems that disseminating disease-related information in different languages and cultures in the media, increasing awareness, providing mental health services for immigrants and mental health education services through social networks and the Internet can be helpful. Key words: Epidemic, COVID-19, Mental health, Immigrants, World Funding: This study did not have any funds. Conflict of interest: None declared. Ethical approval: None declared. How to cite this article: Rahmani Abdollah, Rezaeian Mohsen. The Effects of COVID-19 Epidemic on the Mental Health of Migrants around the World: A Systematic Review. J Rafsanjan Univ Med Sci 2022; 21 (07): 757-84. [Farsi]   [1]. MSc in Epidemiology, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Kamyaran Health Network, Kamyaran, Iran [2]- Prof., Dept. of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Occupational Environment Research Center, School of Health, Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences, Rafsanjan, Iran, ORCID: 0000-0003-3070-0166 (Corresponding Author) Tel: (034) 31315123, Fax: (034) 31315123, E-mail: [email protected]