Risk Management and Healthcare Policy (Jun 2024)

Impact of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic on Hospitalizations in an Acute Psychiatric Ward

  • Di Lorenzo R,
  • Reami M,
  • Dragone D,
  • Morgante M,
  • Panini G,
  • Ferri P,
  • Rovesti S

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 17
pp. 1713 – 1723

Abstract

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Rosaria Di Lorenzo,1 Matteo Reami,2 Diego Dragone,1 Martina Morgante,1 Giulia Panini,1 Paola Ferri,3 Sergio Rovesti3 1Mental Health Department and Drug Abuse, AUSL-Modena, Modena, 41124, Italy; 2School of Medicine & Surgery, Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, 41125, Italy; 3Department of Biomedical, Metabolic and Neural Sciences, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Modena, 41125, ItalyCorrespondence: Rosaria Di Lorenzo, Tel +39-335-5410018, Email [email protected]; [email protected]: The Sars-CoV-2 pandemic imposed unprecedented and drastic changes in health care organizations all over the world.Purpose: To evaluate the impact of the pandemic on hospitalizations in an acute psychiatric ward.Patients and Methods: We retrospectively identified and compared acute psychiatric hospitalizations in the Service for Psychiatric Diagnosis and Care (SPDC) of AUSL-Modena during the pre-pandemic (n = 1858) and pandemic period (n = 1095), from 01/01/2017 to 31/12/2022. Data were statistically analyzed using STATA12.Results: We collected 1858 hospitalizations in the pre-pandemic and 1095 in the pandemic. During the pandemic, we observed a progressively sharp reduction in voluntary hospitalizations, whereas involuntary ones remained stable with an increase in 2022 (p < 0.001), longer hospital stays (12.32 mean days vs 10.03; p < 0.001), longer periods of involuntary hospitalizations (8.45 mean days vs 5.72; p < 0.001), more frequent aggressive behaviour (16.10% vs 9.12%; p < 0.001) and referral to psychiatric communities at discharge (11.04% vs 6.13%; p < 0.001); non-Italians (p = 0.001), people with disability pension (p < 0.001) and Support Administrator (p < 0.001) were more frequently hospitalized.Conclusion: During the pandemic, voluntary psychiatric hospitalizations decreased, but not involuntary ones, and the most vulnerable people in serious clinical conditions were hospitalized.Keywords: psychiatric hospitalizations, COVID-19 pandemic, community mental health, psychiatric involuntary treatment

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