Assessing and managing children with urgent psychiatric needs during COVID-19

To reduce person-to-person transmission of COVID-19 Canada implemented restrictions at com-munity and hospital levels At Kingston Health-Science-Centre most outpatient psychiatric services, including the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Urgent Consult Clinic (CAMHUCC), were transitioned from in-person to virtual clinics The aim of this study is to examine changes in referrals to CAMHUCC and in management of youth referred for urgent psychiatric consult Methods: This retrospective study compares all patients <18years assessed by the CAMHUCC after the switch to the virtual clinic model (March to May 2020;COVID group), with patients who were assessed for the same time period in 2019 (Pre-COVID group) Groups are compared by their demographic and clinical characteristics Results: All patients agreed to the assessment through telepsychiatry There are less referrals during the COVID than in the Pre-COVID period (63 vs 84) Demographic and clinical characteristics between the two groups are without significant difference In the COVID group there is a slightly higher number of indigenous children and patients diagnosed with adjustment disorder There is no significant dif-ference in recommendations between the groups However, implementation of recommendations differs in that those in the COVID group requiring behavior intervention and or psychoeducational assessment, could not be provided the service as these were not feasible via OTN Conclusion: The pandemic-related restrictions and the switch to an online clinic model does not negatively impact urgent psychiatric assessment and management of youth but does affect available resources Further research is warranted to evaluate the long-term effect of those changes