Systematic review and meta-analysis finds high prevalence of anxiety and depression in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, indicating need for improved assessment strategies.
Key Points
This review aims to determine the pooled prevalence of anxiety and depression in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and explore sources of heterogeneity.
Conducted systematic literature search in multiple databases till October 2025.
Performed separate meta-analyses for ICD-10 and screening tool groups with 25 studies involving 78,060 IPF patients.
Assessed publication bias and heterogeneity using Cochran’s Q test and sensitivity analyses.
Pooled prevalence of anxiety was 14.52% in the ICD-10 group and 42.04% in the screening tool group, both with substantial heterogeneity.
Pooled prevalence of depression was 6.87% in the ICD-10 group and 38.26% in the screening tool group, also showing substantial heterogeneity.
Significant publication bias was evident in the screening tool groups for both anxiety and depression.