Psychiatric emergency department visits during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic

Abstract

Background: Previous research has demonstrated the negative impact of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on mental health. Aims: To examine changes in the Chinese psychiatric emergency department (PED) visits for mental health crises that occurred during the pandemic. Methods: Before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, PED visit counts from the largest psychiatric hospital in China between 2018 and 2020 were investigated. Electronic medical records of 2020 PED visits were extracted during the COVID-19 pandemic period and compared for the same period of 2018 and 2019. Results: Overall, PED visits per year increased from 1,767 in 2018 to 2210 (an increase of 25.1%) in 2019 and 2,648 (an increase of 49.9%) in 2020. Compared with 2 years before the epidemic, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the proportion of PED visits among patients with stress disorders, sleep disorders, and anxiety disorders increased significantly. In terms of the distribution of demographic characteristics, age shows a younger trend, while the gender difference is not significant. Conclusion: These findings suggest that PED care-seeking increases during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the need to integrate mental health services for patients with stress, sleep, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive disorders during public health crises.