Liaison psychiatry before and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Psychiatry Res
; 314: 114651, 2022 08.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1851966
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION:
the COVID-19 pandemic had an impact on hospital admissions. The clinical profiles of patients referred to liaison psychiatry teams (LPT) remained stable over the last few decades. We postulate changes in patient profiles due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MATERIALS ANDMETHODS:
a total of 384 patients admitted to a tertiary care University Hospital in Madrid (Spain) and referred to LPTs were recruited. Patients referred 5 months before and after the first admission for COVID-19 were included. Clinical and sociodemographic characteristics were collected, and non-parametric hypothesis contrast tests were used to study possible differences between both periods.RESULTS:
patients referred during the pandemic were significantly older (U = 2.006; p = .045), most of them were admitted to medical hospitalization units (χ2 (2) = 5.962; p = 015), and with a different reason for admission. There was an increase in the rate of adjustment disorders (χ2 (1) =7.893; p = 005) and delirium (χ2 (1) =9.413; p = 002), as well as psychiatric comorbidity (χ2 (2) = 9.930; p = .007), and a reduction in the proportion of patients treated for substance misuse (χ2 (5) = 19.152; p = .002). The number of deaths increased significantly (χ2 (1) = 6.611; p = .010). In persons over 65 years inappropriate prescription was significantly lower (χ2 (1) = 8.200; p = .004).CONCLUSIONS:
the pandemic had an impact on the activity of the LPTs due to the change in the clinical profile and evolution of referred patients, maintaining standards of care that are reflected through prescription.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Psychiatry
/
COVID-19
/
Mental Disorders
Type of study:
Diagnostic study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
/
Qualitative research
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
Psychiatry Res
Year:
2022
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
J.psychres.2022.114651
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