Emergency department mental health presentations before and during the COVID-19 outbreak in Western Australia

OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to high levels of psychological distress in the community. This study aimed to examine whether emergency departments (EDs) also recorded a rise in mental health presentations. METHOD: Changes in the number, and type, of mental health presentations to Western...

Descripción completa

Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Dragovic, Milan, Pascu, Viki, Hall, Tammy, Ingram, Jesse, Waters, Flavie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: SAGE Publications 2020
Materias:
COVID-19 Pandemic
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7509241/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32961096
http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1039856220960673
Descripción
Sumario:OBJECTIVE: Coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to high levels of psychological distress in the community. This study aimed to examine whether emergency departments (EDs) also recorded a rise in mental health presentations. METHOD: Changes in the number, and type, of mental health presentations to Western Australia EDs were examined between January and May 2020, and compared to 2019. RESULTS: Data showed an unexpected decrease in the number of mental health presentations, compared to 2019, which was temporally coincident with the rise in local COVID-19 cases. Presentations for anxiety and panic symptoms, and social and behavioural issues, increased by 11.1% and 6.5%, respectively, but suicidal and self-harm behaviours decreased by 26%. CONCLUSION: A rise in local COVID-19 cases was associated with a decrease in mental health presentations to EDs. This has important implications for the planning and provision of healthcare services in the current pandemic.

Ejemplares similares