Abstract
On March 11th, 2020, the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was declared a pandemic. Governments took drastic measures in an effort to reduce transmission rates and virus-associated morbidity. This study aims to present the immediate effects of the pandemic on patients presenting in the psychiatric emergency department (PED) of Hannover Medical School. Patients presenting during the same timeframe in 2019 served as a control group. A decrease in PED visits was observed during the COVID-19 pandemic with an increase in repeat visits within 1 month (30.2 vs. 20.4%, pBA = 0.001). Fewer patients with affective disorders utilized the PED (15.2 vs. 22.2%, pBA = 0.010). Suicidal ideation was stated more frequently among patients suffering from substance use disorders (47.4 vs. 26.8%, pBA = 0.004), while patients with schizophrenia more commonly had persecutory delusions (68.7 vs. 43.5%, pBA = 0.023) and visual hallucinations (18.6 vs. 3.3%, pBA = 0.011). Presentation rate of patients with neurotic, stress-related, and somatoform disorders increased. These patients were more likely to be male (48.6 vs. 28.9%, pBA = 0.060) and without previous psychiatric treatment (55.7 vs. 36.8%, pBA = 0.089). Patients with personality/behavioral disorders were more often inhabitants of psychiatric residencies (43.5 vs. 10.8%, pBA = 0.008). 20.1% of patients stated an association between psychological well-being and COVID-19. Most often patients suffered from the consequences pertaining to social measures or changes within the medical care system. By understanding how patients react to such a crisis situation, we can consider how to improve care for patients in the future and which measures need to be taken to protect these particularly vulnerable patients.
Highlights
December 2019 marked the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which, by March 11th, 2020, had officially been declared a pandemic according to the World Health Organization [1]
The aim of this study was to evaluate in which aspects patients from different diagnostic subgroups seeking emergency psychiatric care during the COVID-19 pandemic differed from patients who presented in the psychiatric emergency department (PED) in the previous year during the same timeframe
By trend, during the COVID-19 pandemic, patients were more likely to come to the PED during “off-hours” than in the year prior (35.3 vs. 26.7%, X2 (1, N = 850) = 7.334, p = 0.007, pBA = 0.074) and less likely to be admitted to inpatient care (52.1 vs. 61.6%, X2 (1, N = 850) = 7.594, p = 0.006, pBA = 0.064)
Summary
December 2019 marked the beginning of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which, by March 11th, 2020, had officially been declared a pandemic according to the World Health Organization [1]. In hopes of stalling the spread of the virus, governments began taking drastic. Johanna Seifert and Catharina Meissner contributed to this work as first authors. Christian Ihlefeld and Tristan Zindler contributed to this work as senior authors. European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience (2021) 271:259–270 slow the spread of the virus, they have a major impact on daily life, potentially resulting in an increased psychological burden [6]. The aim of this study was to evaluate in which aspects (e.g. psychological aspects, diagnosis, gender, age, time, and means of presentation, etc.) patients from different diagnostic subgroups seeking emergency psychiatric care during the COVID-19 pandemic differed from patients who presented in the psychiatric emergency department (PED) in the previous year during the same timeframe.
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