OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to explore the impact of COVID-19 on prevalence and trends in men with depression in the pre- and during the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS:

This retrospective observational study included patients diagnosed with DiM between 1^st January 2019 to 31^st December 2021 using ICD-10-CM codes from Optum’s de-identified Clinformatics® Data Mart. Year-wise prevalence was calculated for the pre-pandemic (1^st January to 31^st December 2019) and during pandemic (1^st January to 31^st December 2020 and 1^st January to 31^st December 2021) period. Further stratification was done basis age, region, race/ethnicity, and rural-urban setting to observe trends based on unique patients identified with a diagnosis of DiM (cases). Chi-square test was performed to observe significant differences.

RESULTS:

Overall, we observed that the prevalence of patients with DiM increased by 7% (2020 vs 2019) and 6% (2021 [second wave] vs 2020 [first wave]). Compared to pre-pandemic (2019), the south-east region saw the most increase (+122%) in cases, followed by the south-west and north-east regions only during the first wave. Age-wise increase in cases was only observed in teenagers (50%) and patients aged 65 to 84 years (8%) during the first wave whereas the increase in cases during the second wave was observed in all age groups (with teenagers and 65-84 years affected the most). Ethnicity-wise, there was an observed increase of 6% in Asians; 4% in Hispanics; 3% in Blacks; and 2% in Whites during the first wave (vs pre-pandemic). A further increase of 15% in Asians; 11% in Hispanics; 6% in Blacks; and 8% in Whites during the second wave (vs the first wave).

CONCLUSIONS: Rise in prevalence of DiM was observed in both first and second waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Impact on teenagers and 65 to 84 years, and Asians and Hispanics was observed the most.