The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions in a psychiatric ward in a general hospital in Greece.

Q3 Medicine
Ioanna-Athina Botsari, Anastasios Papatsoris, Petros Argitis, Nicholas-Tiberio Economou, Vaios Peritogiannis
{"title":"The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospital admissions in a psychiatric ward in a general hospital in Greece.","authors":"Ioanna-Athina Botsari, Anastasios Papatsoris, Petros Argitis, Nicholas-Tiberio Economou, Vaios Peritogiannis","doi":"10.22365/jpsych.2024.018","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictive measures on the mental health and well-being of the population and psychiatric patients have been widely recognized. Patients' treatment attendance and engagement with mental health services had been negatively affected by the pandemic, whereas patients were less likely to receive timely outpatient care. The pandemic also impacted the use of inpatient services. The aim of the present study was to explore the variability of attendance and admissions to a general hospital psychiatric ward over a 12-month interval after the onset of the pandemic (March 2020), compared to the respective 12-month pre-pandemic interval. A retrospective, observational pre/post study was performed, involving a general hospital psychiatric ward in Corfu, Northwest Greece, which serves an insular catchment area of approximately 100,000 inhabitants. For data analysis, c- and u-charts of statistical process control charts were employed, using monthly data (March 2019 to February 2021). Overall, a significant decline in attendance rates was observed, mostly accounted for by a 26.5% reduction in voluntary attendance rates (1516 patients prior vs. 1114 patients after the onset of the pandemic). The involuntary commitment of patients did not differ between the two periods (106 prior vs. 100 after the onset of the pandemic). Admission rates did not change significantly between the two periods. Diagnoses that exhibited significant variance in examinations between the two study periods were mood disorders and personality disorders, whereas there was no significant variation in the number of admissions across different diagnoses. Length of hospital stay increased significantly by 13.2% over the first year of the pandemic, from 25.57 days (Md= 13, IQR= 22) during the pre-COVID-19 period to 28.95 days (Md= 22, IQR= 28) during the COVID-19 period. Patients with schizophrenia and related disorders (Mean= 34.25 days, SD= 43.19) and mood disorders (Mean= 26.26, SD= 33.48) had prolonged hospital stays compared to other diagnoses. These findings highlight significant shifts in psychiatric care delivery during the pandemic and underscore the need for targeted interventions to address the evolving demands on mental health services during public health crises.</p>","PeriodicalId":20741,"journal":{"name":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2024-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.22365/jpsych.2024.018","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"Medicine","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0

Abstract

The negative consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent restrictive measures on the mental health and well-being of the population and psychiatric patients have been widely recognized. Patients' treatment attendance and engagement with mental health services had been negatively affected by the pandemic, whereas patients were less likely to receive timely outpatient care. The pandemic also impacted the use of inpatient services. The aim of the present study was to explore the variability of attendance and admissions to a general hospital psychiatric ward over a 12-month interval after the onset of the pandemic (March 2020), compared to the respective 12-month pre-pandemic interval. A retrospective, observational pre/post study was performed, involving a general hospital psychiatric ward in Corfu, Northwest Greece, which serves an insular catchment area of approximately 100,000 inhabitants. For data analysis, c- and u-charts of statistical process control charts were employed, using monthly data (March 2019 to February 2021). Overall, a significant decline in attendance rates was observed, mostly accounted for by a 26.5% reduction in voluntary attendance rates (1516 patients prior vs. 1114 patients after the onset of the pandemic). The involuntary commitment of patients did not differ between the two periods (106 prior vs. 100 after the onset of the pandemic). Admission rates did not change significantly between the two periods. Diagnoses that exhibited significant variance in examinations between the two study periods were mood disorders and personality disorders, whereas there was no significant variation in the number of admissions across different diagnoses. Length of hospital stay increased significantly by 13.2% over the first year of the pandemic, from 25.57 days (Md= 13, IQR= 22) during the pre-COVID-19 period to 28.95 days (Md= 22, IQR= 28) during the COVID-19 period. Patients with schizophrenia and related disorders (Mean= 34.25 days, SD= 43.19) and mood disorders (Mean= 26.26, SD= 33.48) had prolonged hospital stays compared to other diagnoses. These findings highlight significant shifts in psychiatric care delivery during the pandemic and underscore the need for targeted interventions to address the evolving demands on mental health services during public health crises.

求助全文
约1分钟内获得全文 求助全文
来源期刊
Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki
Psychiatrike = Psychiatriki Medicine-Medicine (all)
CiteScore
2.60
自引率
0.00%
发文量
37
×
引用
GB/T 7714-2015
复制
MLA
复制
APA
复制
导出至
BibTeX EndNote RefMan NoteFirst NoteExpress
×
提示
您的信息不完整,为了账户安全,请先补充。
现在去补充
×
提示
您因"违规操作"
具体请查看互助需知
我知道了
×
提示
确定
请完成安全验证×
copy
已复制链接
快去分享给好友吧!
我知道了
右上角分享
点击右上角分享
0
联系我们:info@booksci.cn Book学术提供免费学术资源搜索服务,方便国内外学者检索中英文文献。致力于提供最便捷和优质的服务体验。 Copyright © 2023 布克学术 All rights reserved.
京ICP备2023020795号-1
ghs 京公网安备 11010802042870号
Book学术文献互助
Book学术文献互助群
群 号:481959085
Book学术官方微信