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Table 1 Comparison of number of admissions for psychiatric consultation in ED and socio-demographic and clinical characteristics of subjects accessing during lockdown, pre-lockdown and post-lockdown

From: Psychiatric emergencies during, after, and before the COVID-19 lockdown: what happened to our patients? A naturalistic observational study

Variables

Total

Pre-lockdown

Lockdown

Post-lockdown

Pearson Chi2

Kruskal–Wallis

Shapiro–Francia

Admission in ED

 Total number of admission for any health problem in ED

67.358

43.201

3.713

20.444

   

 Total number of patients

2739

1423

274

1042

   

 Total number of psych cons in ED

3873

2033

368

1472

   

 Total number of admissions in psychiatric ward

924

566

93

265

   

 % of psych cons on ED presentations M (SD)

 

4.87 (0.96)

9.13 (0.67)

7.24 (0.71)

 

2884.46***

11.15***

 ED admission per month M (SD)

 

3053.56 (315.12)

1352.37 (282.64)

1691.68 (299.98)

 

2788.88***

13.68***

 ED admission with psych cons per month M (SD)

 

147.08 (34.22)

103.14 (34.41)

118.89 (24.56)

 

762.45***

8.97***

 Admissions in psychiatric ward per month M (SD)

 

40.46 (7.44)

25.7 (6.56)

25.96 (11.82)

 

334.25***

7.73***

 Re-admissions in ED for psych cons per month M (SD)

 

61.74 (17.93)

44.96 (16.07)

50.17 (10.62)

 

476.39***

10.28***

Socio-demographic variables

 Age M (SD)

 

44.49 (16.2)

43.72 (15.85)

44.31 (16.72)

 

0.54

9.85***

 Age group N (%)

    

12.02*

  

  Below 35

1224

618 (30.4)

115 (31.17)

491 (33.38)

   

  36–49

1157

630 (30.99)

118 (31.98)

409 (27.8)

   

  Over 50

1364

712 (35.02)

119 (32.25)

533 (36.23)

   

  Unknown

128

73 (3.59)

17 (4.61)

38 (2.58)

   

 Gender N (%)

    

7.76***

  

  Female

1670

906 (44.56)

136 (36.86)

628 (42.66)

   

  Male

2204

1127 (55.44)

233 (63.14)

844 (57.34)

   

 Country of origin N (%)

    

1.98

  

  Italy

2918

1515 (74.52)

276 (74.8)

1127 (76.56)

   

  Overseas

956

518 (25.48)

93 (25.2)

345 (23.44)

   

Clinic variables

 LOS M(SD)

 

6.26 (9.37)

8.29 (10.05)

11.92 (21.55)

 

266.12***

17.63***

 Type of disease N (%)

    

48.08***

  

  SMI

1301

767 (37.73)

110 (29.81)

424 (29.16)

   

  nSMI

1218

573 (28.18)

126 (34.15)

519 (35.69)

   

  A&S

346

161 (7.92)

49 (13.28)

136 (9.35)

   

 Frequent attendee N (%)

    

1.69

  

  Yes

507

268 (14.07)

47 (12.74)

192 (13.04)

   

  No

3359

1747 (85.93)

332 (87.26)

1280 (86.96)

   

 Local Health Agency N (%)

    

14.83***

  

  Local Health Agency Rome 1

1860

1023 (50.32)

218 (59.08)

816 (55.43)

   

  Other

1817

1010 (49.68)

151 (40.92)

656 (44.57)

   

 Mode of arrival N (%)

    

28.83***

  

  Ambulance

2611

1304 (64.14)

285 (77.24)

1022 (69.43)

   

  Other

1263

729 (35.86)

84 (22.76)

450 (30.57)

   

 Triage classification N (%)

    

26.78***

  

  Major/urgent emergency

2144

1205 (59.27)

186 (50.41)

753 (51.15)

   

  Minor/non-emergency

1730

828 (40.73)

183 (49.59)

719 (48.85)

   

 Reason for accessing N (%)

    

17.26***

  

  Pyschomotor agitation

2470

1236 (60.8)

239 (64.77)

995 (67.6)

   

  Other

1404

797 (39.2)

130 (35.23)

477 (32.40)

   

 Psychiatric diagnosis N (%)

    

67.36***

  

  Schizophrenia and other psychosis

1020

605 (29.76)

78 (21.14)

337 (23.18)

   

  Mania and bipolar disorders

103

52 (2.56)

11 (2.98)

40 (2.75)

   

  Depression

209

120 (5.9)

24 (6.5)

65 (4.47)

   

  Neurosis and somatoform disorders

665

328 (16.13)

56 (15.18)

281 (19.33)

   

  Personality and behavioral disorders

96

46 (2.26)

15 (4.07)

35 (2.41)

   

  Alcholism and substance use disorders

346

161 (7.92)

49 (13.28)

136 (9.35)

   

  Organic mental disorders

90

35 (1.72)

5 (1.36)

50 (3.44)

   

  Other mental disorders

336

154 (7.58)

47 (12.74)

135 (9.28)

   

  No mental disorders

991

532 (26.17)

84 (22.76)

375 (25.79)

   
  1. Shapiro–Francia test tests whether a continuous variable is normally distributed; Kruskal–Wallis test is for statistical equality with continuous variables that are not normally distributed; Frequent attendee: subject with 3 or more admission in ED for Psych consultation within the period in analysis
  2. ED Emergency Department, Psych cons Psychiatric Consultation, LOS length of stay in ED (hours from admission to discharge), SMI severe mental illness, nSMI not severe mental illness, A&S alcohol and substance abuse disorder
  3. ***p < 0.01, **p < 0.05, *p < 0.1. Pearson test is for statistical equality with categorical variables