Original Articles
Vol. 17 No. 3 (2021)
Effects after the lockdown on emergency room admissions for psychiatric evaluation: An observational study from the province of Forlì-Cesena, Italy
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All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
Received: 23 April 2021
Accepted: 16 August 2021
Accepted: 16 August 2021
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The aim was to study the number of accesses to the Emergency Room (ER) requiring psychiatric evaluation in the four months following the lockdown period for the COVID-19 outbreak (May 4th, 2020-August 31th, 2020). The study is a retrospective longitudinal observational study of the ER admissions of the Hospitals of Cesena and Forlì (Emilia Romagna region) leading to psychiatric assessment. Sociodemographic variables, history for medical comorbidities or psychiatric disorders, reason for ER admission, psychiatric diagnosis at discharge and measures taken by the psychiatrist were collected. An increase of 9.4% of psychiatric assessments was observed. The difference was more pronounced in the first two months after lockdown, with a 21.7% increase of number of ER accesses, while after two months numbers were the same as those of the year before. Admission with anxiety symptoms and history of psychiatric disorder decreased significantly. Moreover, there is an age trend with an increasing age of admission.
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Citations
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How to Cite
Effects after the lockdown on emergency room admissions for psychiatric evaluation: An observational study from the province of Forlì-Cesena, Italy. (2021). Emergency Care Journal, 17(3). https://doi.org/10.4081/ecj.2021.9827
