OBJECTIVES: The WHO declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Thousands of mental-health-related-surveys and -reviews have been reported globally since then. We aim to evaluate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on depression, particularly on major depressive disorder (MDD), among the under 20-year-old population in Japan, the US, and Germany.

METHODS: The IQVIA Claims, PharMetrics^® Plus, and the Disease Analyzer databases were used. Patient population used in this study were identified as patients with MDD diagnosis (ICD-10: F32, F33) between 2019 and 2022. Data utilized in 2019 are identified as pre-COVID-19 patients and data utilized in 2022 are identified as during COVID-19 patients. Analysis was performed using IQVIA Evidence 360, a Software-as-a-Service Platform containing global real world datasets.

RESULTS: A general upward trend of patients diagnosed with MDD was seen when comparing pre- and during COVID-19 groups and is in-line with COVID-19 related public health mitigation measures such as lockdown in the three countries. In particular, the increase in patients diagnosed with MDD compared from pre- and during COVID-19 patient groups was higher among females than males. In regard to treatment rate among patients under 20-years-old from the pre- and during COVID-19 groups, a general increase was seen, in particular the number of newly treated patients with depression increased 1.7-fold in Japan, 1.4-fold in the US, and 2.1-fold in Germany. Additionally, the under 20-year-old population saw in increase in MDD diagnosis with COVID-19 identified as a comorbidity.

CONCLUSIONS: An upward trend of patients diagnosed with MDD is seen as the world continues to progress through COVID-19. The public health measures introduced to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 in the three countries can be clearly seen, moreover, the frequency of patients under 20 years old diagnosed with MDD have increased in accordance.