Changing Trends in Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Admissions During COVID-19: A Retrospective Cross-sectional Study at a Tertiary Center in Turkey

Abstract

Objectives: There are various disruptions in health services as a result of the coronavirus pandemic process, and it brings along various changes in the application and delivery of mental health services, as in all other health services. There are limited data about child and adolescent psychiatry admissions during the pandemic. This study aimed to investigate the characteristics and trends of child and adolescent psychiatry admissions to an outpatient clinic during the pandemic and to compare them with a similar period in 2019. Materials and Methods: The study was a retrospective cross-sectional study including subjects admitted by appointment to a tertiary hospital. The data of the study were collected from electronic medical records. Admissions for three months (September, October, November) in 2019 and 2020 were reviewed. Psychiatric diagnosis (according to ICD 10) and clinical information (including age and place category) at admission were evaluated for each child and adolescent. Results: There was a significant decrease in the total number of admissions during the pandemic period to the pre-pandemic period (p<0.001). During the pandemic period, an increase in the ratio of admission of the adolescent age group and female gender was detected. When the diagnostic distribution was examined, the diagnoses of obsessive-compulsive disorder (p=0.002), anxiety disorders (p<0.001) and speech and language disorders (p<0.001) were more common. The admission rates for these three disorders increased significantly compared with the pre-pandemic period. The rates of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and specific learning disorder were found to be significantly lower compared to the pre-pandemic period. Conclusion: Although recent studies have determined that psychiatric problems increase during the pandemic period, our findings show that admissions to the child and adolescent psychiatric outpatient clinic were decreased. Our findings also suggest that females and the adolescent age group is more vulnerable to the pandemic in terms of mental problems.