Retrospective Study
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatr. Nov 19, 2021; 11(11): 1095-1105
Published online Nov 19, 2021. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v11.i11.1095
Psychiatric hospitalization during the two SARS-CoV-2 pandemic waves: New warnings for acute psychotic episodes and suicidal behaviors
Fabio Panariello, Sara Longobardi, Lorenzo Cellini, Diana De Ronchi, Anna Rita Atti
Fabio Panariello, Sara Longobardi, Lorenzo Cellini, Diana De Ronchi, Anna Rita Atti, Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Bologna 40126, Italy
Author contributions: Panariello F analyzed the data, managed the literature searches and analyses, and wrote the first draft of the manuscript; Fabio P, Longobardi S, and Cellini L wrote the protocol and collected the data; De Ronchi D designed the study and amended the last draft of the manuscript; Atti AR designed the study, improved the first draft of the manuscript, and conducted the statistical analyses; All authors managed the literature searches and helped Panariello F write the manuscript and approved the final manuscript.
Institutional review board statement: This study has been conducted in agreement with our Institutional Guidelines.
Informed consent statement: The informed consent statement was waived.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to declare.
Data sharing statement: No additional data are available.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Fabio Panariello, MD, PhD, MSc, Junior Assistant Professor (Fixed-Term), Department of Biomedical and NeuroMotor Sciences, Institute of Psychiatry, University of Bologna, Via Zamboni, 33, Bologna 40126, Italy. fabio.panariello@unibo.it
Received: April 30, 2021
Peer-review started: April 30, 2021
First decision: July 14, 2021
Revised: July 23, 2021
Accepted: September 3, 2021
Article in press: September 3, 2021
Published online: November 19, 2021
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
Research background

Significant consequences on mental health characterize unprecedented events like the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic. Therefore, variations in psychiatric hospitalization rates represent significant "sentinel events" for assessing the mental health response to stress. Responses to the stress may lead to new-onset or relapses of severe mental illness and suicidal behavior rates.

Research motivation

To reduce the further consequences on the mental health of the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic by describing the repercussions of the first two waves of the pandemic on the psychiatric new-onset or relapse pictures rates.

Research objectives

The present study investigates any differences in terms of acute psychiatric relapse or new onset of psychiatric disorders observed at the General Hospital Psychiatric Ward (GHPW) at "Maggiore" Hospital in Bologna between the first and second epidemic.

Research methods

We took into consideration: Voluntary hospitalization rates, compulsory hospitalization rates, diagnoses, and the severity of psychopathological-clinical pictures estimated by the mental health triage and Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition interview. Multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to estimate the correlation between the frequencies of the hospitalization and the frequencies of the independent variables.

Research results

The total admissions rate at GHPW decreased during the first SARS-CoV-2 pandemic wave compared to the same period throughout the 3 previous years. The compulsory admission rate and acute psychotic relapse rate increased during the first SARS-CoV-2 pandemic wave in comparison with the 3 previous years. During the second SARS-CoV-2 pandemic wave the total psychiatric admission rate reached the same ratio recorded during the same period of the previous 3 years. Suicidal behaviors, depressive disorders, bipolar disorders, anxiety spectrum disorders and trauma- and stressor-related disorders relapse arose among hospitalized patients during the second SARS-CoV-2 pandemic wave compared with the 3 previous years.

Research conclusions

We hypothesize that problem-focused coping strategies may be protective for the risk of acute psychopathological relapse in the short term but not in the medium-long term.

Research perspectives

The suicidal rate could arise in the future, after the first two pandemic waves therefore may be important to survey it and to adopt preventive strategies.