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A real-world ten-week follow-up of the COVID outbreak in an outpatient drug clinic in Salamanca (Spain)

OBJECTIVE: To compare over ten weeks the number of relapses, hospital admissions, calls made, admissions to therapeutic communities, face-to-face visits, treatment adjustment, number of injectables administered, and number of emergencies attended due to emotional and behavioral alterations and/or su...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Aguilar, Lourdes, Vicente-Hernández, Begoña, Remón-Gallo, Diego, García-Ullán, Llanyra, Valriberas-Herrero, Isabel, Maciá-Casas, Ana, Pérez-Madruga, Ana, Garzón, Maria Ángeles, Álvarez-Navares, Ana, Roncero, Carlos
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Elsevier Inc. 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8065063/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34016295
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsat.2021.108303
Descripción
Sumario:OBJECTIVE: To compare over ten weeks the number of relapses, hospital admissions, calls made, admissions to therapeutic communities, face-to-face visits, treatment adjustment, number of injectables administered, and number of emergencies attended due to emotional and behavioral alterations and/or substance use disorder, and to describe and quantify social emergencies in an outpatient drug clinic (ODC) in Salamanca (Spain) from March 16, 2020, to May 22, 2020. METHODS: This is an ecological study of the COVID pandemic over ten weeks. The study examines the set of alcohol or other drug-dependent or dual disorder patients in the population of Salamanca, Spain. The measurements were: professionals; calls made; percentage of successful calls; face-to-face visits; first visits made; reviews made; techniques; injectable treatments; other treatments; evolution; relapses. The ODC includes about 375 new patients each year and another 650 other patients annually. RESULTS: The study found the number of relapses to be greater in the last five weeks of the 10-week study period. Patients' psychopathological instability also increased, and face-to-face visits were necessary. The most frequent psychopathology that required face-to-face intervention was depressive disorder. The number of interventions with patients increased. In parallel, social workers' efforts were greater after the seventh week. There was a decrease in response to calls. Throughout this time, the ODC attended to patients who needed to be treated for the first time. CONCLUSIONS: Confinement due to the coronavirus pandemic generated maladaptive emotional responses and other behaviors, such as excessive alcohol consumption. The number of face-to-face consultations, admissions, and referrals to therapeutic communities increased. Patients under stress and in social isolation resorted more often to substance use. The ODC had to adopt a flexible approach to evaluate patients with more serious problems, by using face-to-face assessments.