Consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on admissions to general hospital psychiatric wards in Italy: Reduced psychiatric hospitalizations and increased suicidality.
Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry
; 110: 110304, 2021 08 30.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-33737215
ABSTRACT
AIMS:
The present investigation aimed at evaluating differences in psychiatric hospitalizations in Italy during and after the lockdown due to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), compared to the same periods in 2018 and 2019.METHODS:
We obtained and analyzed anonymized data on psychiatric admissions (n = 4550) from 12 general hospital psychiatric wards (GHPWs) in different Italian regions (catchment area = 3.71 millions of inhabitants). Using a mixed-effects Poisson regression model, we compared admission characteristics across three periods (a) March 1-June 30, 2018 and 2019; (b) March 1-April 30, 2020 (i.e., lockdown); and (c) May 1-June 30, 2020 (i.e., post-lockdown).RESULTS:
During the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a 41% reduction (IRR = 0.59; p < 0.001, CI 0.45-0.79) in psychiatric admissions in the enrolled GHPWs with respect to the 2018 and 2019 control period. Conversely, admission rates in the post-lockdown period were similar to those observed in the control period. Notably, a consistent and significant reduction in psychiatric hospitalizations of older patients (aged >65 years) was observed in the lockdown (40%; IRR = 0.60; 95% CI 0.44-0.82) and post-lockdown (28%; IRR = 0.72; 95% CI 0.54-0.96) periods. Long-stay admissions (>14 days) increased (63%; IRR = 1.63; 95% CI 1.32-2.02) during the lockdown and decreased by 39% thereafter (IRR = 0.61; 95% CI 0.49-0.75). A significant 35% increase in patients reporting suicidal ideation was observed in the post-lockdown period, compared to the rate observed in the 2018 and 2019 control period (IRR = 1.35; 95% CI 1.01-1.79).CONCLUSION:
The COVID-19 lockdown was associated with changes in the number of psychiatric admissions, particularly for older patients and long-stay hospitalizations. Increased admission of patients reporting suicidal ideation in the post-lockdown period merits special attention. Further studies are required to gain insight into the observed phenomena.Palavras-chave
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Unidade Hospitalar de Psiquiatria
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Ideação Suicida
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COVID-19
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Hospitalização
Tipo de estudo:
Clinical_trials
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Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Adult
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Aged
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Female
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Humans
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Male
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Middle aged
País como assunto:
Europa
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2021
Tipo de documento:
Article