Increased suicide rates in Mexico City during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak: An analysis spanning from 2016 to 2021.

Objective: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted mental health worldwide, and suicide can be a serious outcome of this. Thus, suicide characteristics were examined before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico City. Methods: This is a retrospective study including all Mexico City residents who had a coroner's record with a cause of death of intentional self-harm (ICD-10) from January 2016 to December 2021. Results: From 2016 to 2021, 3636 people committed suicide, of which 2869 were males (78.9%) and 767 females (21.1%). From 2016 to 2019 the suicide rate remained constant (∼6 per 100000) and dramatically increased in 2020 (10.45 per 100,000), to return to the levels of the previous year in 2021 (6.95 per 100000). The suicide rate in 2020 specifically increased from January to June (COVID-19 outbreak) in all age groups. Moreover, every year young people (15-24 years) have the maximum suicide rate and depression was the main suicide etiology. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak increased the suicide rate, regardless of age, but suicide prevalence was higher in males and young people, regardless of the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings confirm that suicide is a complex and multifactorial problem and will allow the establishment of new guidelines for prevention and care strategies.

Patients with schizophrenia have decreased COVID-19 prevalence among hospitalised patients with psychiatric and neurological diseases: A retrospective analysis in Mexican population.

BACKGROUND: Increased coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) incidence and mortality in hospitalised patients with psychiatric and neurologic disorders have been reported. METHODS: The clinical records of 198 patients with psychiatric and neurological disorders hospitalised in the Dr Rafael Serrano Psychiatric Hospital in Puebla during the peak of the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Mexico were analysed for psychiatric or neurologic diagnosis, gender, age, medical diagnosis, and COVID-19 prevalence. For patients with COVID-19, the effects of gender, and medical diagnosis were explored. RESULTS: There was an increased COVID-19 prevalence in the studied population (43.94%), compared with the national Mexican (~0.21% to 0.63%) and worldwide average in the general population (~0.13% to 4.28%). However, the mortality rate (5.75%) was lower than that reported in Mexico (11.28%-13.55%), which was higher than the worldwide average (2.95%-4.98%). We detected increased COVID-19 prevalence in patients with comorbidities (odds ratios [OR] 0.4; 95% CI: 0.2-1, P = .0447). Moreover, patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders have a decreased predisposition to COVID-19 (OR 0.4, 95% CI: 0.2-0.8; P = .0250), as opposed to patients with intellectual disability that are predisposed to COVID-19 (OR 2.2, 95% CI: 0.2-0.8; P = .0434), in comparison with the rest of the hospital population. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of COVID-19 in hospitalised patients with psychiatric disorders is increased compared with that of the general population; however, a lower mortality rate was detected. Also, an increased risk of COVID-19 was detected in patients with comorbidities. Interestingly, the observed variation in COVID-19 prevalence in patients with schizophrenia and intellectual disability was not associated with age or other specific medical diagnoses.