Abstract
Introduction: The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the coronavirus family, a group of viruses that can cause upper respiratory infections in humans. Among other symptoms, it can present as an asymptomatic infection or as a more severe disease requiring hospitalization. Neuropsychiatric symptoms have been described in the acute phase of the illness and as long-term repercussions. We describe the characteristics and interventions in those COVID-19 patients referred to our liaison psychiatry service.Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. This study was carried out within the Department of Psychiatry of Cruces University Hospital (Basque Country, Spain). Data from each psychiatric consultation within our consultation-liaison service were consecutively obtained for 1 month from March 17 to April 17, 2020. We recruited data regarding clinical and referral characteristics and psychiatric interventions.Results: Of a total of 721 SARS-CoV-2 hospitalizations, 43 (5.6%) patients were referred to our psychiatry liaison service. The median age was 61 years old, and 62.8% were women. The infectious disease department was the most frequent petitioner (37.2%), and the most common reason for referral was patient anxiety (25.6%). A total of 67.4% of patients received psychological counseling and 55.8% received some pharmacological approach, with a median of 3.7 visits/calls per patient. In addition, 20.3% needed a medication switch due to potential interactions between psychotropics and drugs used to treat SARS-CoV-2.Discussion: In our study, up to 5.6% of SARS-CoV-2 hospitalized patients needed a psychiatric evaluation, especially for anxiety and mood symptoms. Psychosocial factors associated with the pandemic, drugs used to treat the infection, or a direct causative effect of the virus may explain our findings.
Highlights
The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the coronavirus family, a group of viruses that can cause upper respiratory infections in humans
We aimed to describe the profile of SARS-CoV-2 positive patients in which a psychiatry consultation was required in our hospital
We received a total of 43 SARS-CoV-2-positive referrals, of which n = 16 (37.2%) were men and n = 27 (62.8%) were women
Summary
The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the coronavirus family, a group of viruses that can cause upper respiratory infections in humans Among other symptoms, it can present as an asymptomatic infection or as a more severe disease requiring hospitalization. The COVID-19 symptom spectrum is vast and ranges from an asymptomatic infection in up to 20% of patients to severe pneumonia requiring hospitalization and death [1, 4, 5]. It primarily affects the airway and the lungs, the virus can attack the kidneys, the liver, and the central nervous system and cause multi-organ failure. In China, the mortality rate has been estimated to be 1.38%, increasing with age and increasing to 13.4% in those aged 80 or older [5]
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