Abstract
IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has forced changes in patient care in Mental Health Day Hospitals (MHDHs).ObjectivesTo study the interventions performed in MHDHs during the pandemic in comparison with those performed in other facilities and to analyze the new hospital admissions in both groups.MethodA retrospective multicenter cohort study comparing the interventions received by a group of 161 patients admitted in MHDHs during the lockdown period in Spain with the interventions of another group of 109 patients who were treated at other facilities during lockdown.ResultsMHDHs reduced their face-to-face interventions during lockdown just as much as other facilities but implemented telematic intervention methods to a greater extent. Patients attached to MHDHs during lockdown were admitted significantly less and presented fewer urgent consultations in the following 6 months.ConclusionThe use of telepsychiatry made it feasible to adapt MHDHs to periods of lockdown, being useful to improve the continuity of care during the pandemic. In addition, it was possible to maintain a reduction in hospital admissions in patients treated at MHDHs.
Highlights
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced changes in patient care in Mental Health Day Hospitals (MHDHs)
There were no differences between the two groups in sex (χ2 = 1.685; p = 0.194), age (t = 1.207; p = 0.149), household composition (χ2 = 2.843; p = 0.416), educational level (χ2 = 4.045; p = 0.400; Table 1), or use of long-acting injectable (LAI) antipsychotics (χ2 = 2.248; p = 0.134), adherence to treatment (χ2 = 0.889; p = 0.346)
There were significant differences in employment, with only 10.6% of the mental health day hospitals (MHDHs) patients working compared to 25.7% of the group treated in other facilities (χ2 = 12.850; p = 0.025)
Summary
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced changes in patient care in Mental Health Day Hospitals (MHDHs). Social isolation subsequent to this lockdown generated psychological distress in the general population (Parrado-González and León-Jariego, 2020) and, to a greater extent, in patients with severe mental disorders, who had less healthy behavior strategies to cope with the situation (Hao et al, 2020; Barlati et al, 2021; Solé et al, 2021). During this period, psychiatric facilities had to reorganize their care in a matter of days (Moreno et al, 2020), promoting telematic care, or telepsychiatry (Gentile et al, 2020).
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