Effectiveness of psychological first aid in infectious disease pandemics: An overview of systematic reviews.

There is insufficient research on the usefulness of psychological interventions, such as psychological first aid (PFA), during outbreaks. We searched for and critically appraised systematic reviews that examined the effectiveness of PFA during infectious disease outbreaks, such as the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Systematic reviews that examined the efficacy of PFA in the severe acute respiratory syndrome, Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus, Ebola virus disease, and COVID-19 outbreaks were searched through PubMed on February 19, 2021. The three included systematic reviews were critically appraised and assessed using AMSTAR-2. One review's overall confidence in its findings was evaluated as "high," which suggested that PFA training had a favorable effect on healthcare personnel. Furthermore, the review also demonstrated that PFA was commonly used during outbreaks and could be delivered through multiple methods, such as a phone or video call. Although it was anticipated that PFA would improve subjective well-being, reports showed no evidence of reduced depression or insomnia. Future studies should examine additional numbers of PFA recipients and conduct quasi-experimental studies to better understand the effectiveness of PFA. Evidence on its effectiveness in infectious disease outbreaks is still lacking, along with research and evaluation methods. Quasi-experimental studies, such as comparisons with other psychological interventions, are required to better understand the effectiveness of PFA.
Competing Interests: Masahide Koda received a Grant‐in‐Aid for Early‐Career Scientists (JP19K19462) from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and a medical research grant from Pfizer Health Research Foundation. Toru Horinouch received a scholarship to study abroad from the Japan Epilepsy Research Foundation. Morio Aki received honoraria for lectures from Sumitomo Pharma Co., Ltd. Nozomu Oya, Akihisa Iriki, Kazufumi Yoshida, Yusuke Ogawa, Hironori Kuga, and Tomohiro Nakao have nothing to disclose. The authors declare no conflicts of interest.
(© 2023 The Authors. Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences Reports published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japanese Society of Psychiatry and Neurology.)