Consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on admissions to general hospital psychiatric wards in Italy: Reduced psychiatric hospitalizations and increased suicidality.
2021
AIMS: The present investigation aimed at evaluating differences in psychiatric hospitalizations in Italy during and after the lockdown due to the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), compared to the same periods in 2018 and 2019. METHODS: We obtained and analyzed anonymized data on psychiatric admissions (nâ¯=â¯4550) from 12 general hospital psychiatric wards (GHPWs) in different Italian regions (catchment areaâ¯=â¯3.71 millions of inhabitants). Using a mixed-effects Poisson regression model, we compared admission characteristics across three periods: (a) March 1-June 30, 2018 and 2019; (b) March 1-April 30, 2020 (i.e., lockdown); and (c) May 1-June 30, 2020 (i.e., post-lockdown). RESULTS: During the COVID-19 lockdown, there was a 41% reduction (IRRâ¯=â¯0.59; p⯠65â¯years) was observed in the lockdown (40%; IRRâ¯=â¯0.60; 95% CI: 0.44-0.82) and post-lockdown (28%; IRRâ¯=â¯0.72; 95% CI: 0.54-0.96) periods. Long-stay admissions (>14â¯days) increased (63%; IRRâ¯=â¯1.63; 95% CI: 1.32-2.02) during the lockdown and decreased by 39% thereafter (IRRâ¯=â¯0.61; 95% CI: 0.49-0.75). A significant 35% increase in patients reporting suicidal ideation was observed in the post-lockdown period, compared to the rate observed in the 2018 and 2019 control period (IRRâ¯=â¯1.35; 95% CI: 1.01-1.79). CONCLUSION: The COVID-19 lockdown was associated with changes in the number of psychiatric admissions, particularly for older patients and long-stay hospitalizations. Increased admission of patients reporting suicidal ideation in the post-lockdown period merits special attention. Further studies are required to gain insight into the observed phenomena.
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