Has psychiatric emergency care changed after the COVID-19 pandemic? A retrospective study in a tertiary hospital in Madrid, Spain

IF 2.5 4区医学 Q2 PSYCHIATRY

European Journal of Psychiatry Pub Date : 2024-11-18 DOI:10.1016/j.ejpsy.2024.100281

Carolina Fajardo , Simona Sciacchitano , Alba Maria Pozo-Prados , Ana Izquierdo , Álvaro Orosa-Duarte , Eduardo Delgado-Parada , Jose Luis Ayuso-Mateos , Iosune Torio

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background and objectives

The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing restrictive measures had a detrimental impact on the mental health of the population, potentially altering the pattern of seeking psychiatric care. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted to compare Psychiatric Emergencies after the most restrictive phases of the pandemic with an equivalent pre-pandemic period. Additionally, we aimed to investigate a possible association between the influx of patients to the emergency department (ED) and the cumulative incidence of COVID-19 cases.

Methods

Data from the psychiatric ED of a tertiary hospital in Madrid, Spain, during the so-called “new normal” phase (October 2020 - May 2021) were compared with a corresponding period (October 2018 - May 2019).

Results

The number of visits to the ED significantly increased from 879 to 980 after the pandemic. Patients were more likely to be compulsorily transferred (M = 281, SD 28.7 vs. M = 209, SD 23.8) and had a higher likelihood of requiring psychiatric hospitalization (M = 323, SD 33.0 vs. M = 246, SD 28.0). Notably, the number of visits related to suicide attempts was significantly higher during the pandemic (M = 147, SD 15.0 vs. M = 86, SD 9.8), while the proportion of patients with bipolar disorder decreased (M = 89, SD 9.1 vs. M = 121, SD 13.8). No significant results were found regarding a possible association between the number of patients in the ED and the COVID-19 incidence rate.

Conclusions

These results suggest critical changes in psychiatric emergency care and an increasing trend of suicide attempts during the pandemic, emphasizing the need for the reorganization of emergency care in future health crises.

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COVID-19 大流行后精神科急诊护理是否发生了变化？西班牙马德里一家三级医院的回顾性研究

背景和目标 COVID-19 大流行和随之而来的限制性措施对人们的心理健康产生了不利影响，可能会改变人们寻求精神科治疗的模式。我们开展了一项回顾性横断面研究，将大流行最严格阶段后的精神科急诊情况与大流行前的同等情况进行比较。此外，我们还旨在调查涌入急诊科（ED）的患者与 COVID-19 病例累积发病率之间可能存在的关联。方法将西班牙马德里一家三甲医院在所谓的 "新常态 "阶段（2020 年 10 月至 2021 年 5 月）的精神科急诊数据与相应时期（2018 年 10 月至 2019 年 5 月）的数据进行比较。结果大流行后，急诊科就诊人数从 879 人次大幅增至 980 人次。患者更有可能被强制转院（M = 281，SD 28.7 vs. M = 209，SD 23.8），更有可能需要精神科住院治疗（M = 323，SD 33.0 vs. M = 246，SD 28.0）。值得注意的是，在大流行期间，与自杀未遂有关的就诊人数明显增加（中=147，标化15.0 vs. 中=86，标化9.8），而躁狂症患者的比例则有所下降（中=89，标化9.1 vs. 中=121，标化13.8）。结论：这些结果表明，在大流行病期间，精神科急诊护理发生了重大变化，自杀企图呈上升趋势，强调了在未来的健康危机中重组急诊护理的必要性。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

European Journal of Psychiatry PSYCHIATRY-

CiteScore

2.90

自引率

0.00%

发文量

审稿时长

43 days

期刊介绍： The European journal of psychiatry is a quarterly publication founded in 1986 and directed by Professor Seva until his death in 2004. It was originally intended to report “the scientific activity of European psychiatrists” and “to bring about a greater degree of communication” among them. However, “since scientific knowledge has no geographical or cultural boundaries, is open to contributions from all over the world”. These principles are maintained in the new stage of the journal, now expanded with the help of an American editor.