Trends in emergency department visits for mental health disorder diagnoses before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective cohort study 2018–2021

BACKGROUND: As the pandemic started, Saudi Arabia applied extreme measures in responses to the pandemic crises, which have adversely affected individuals’ mental health. Therefore, the aim of this study is to describe trends in mental health disorder ED visit before and after the pandemic in two medical centers in Saudi Arabia. METHODS: A retrospective cohort study using data from electronic health records in the Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs’ (MNG-HA) in Saudi Arabia. Multiple logistic regression model was used to examine the age and sex differences in mental health disorder ED visits before and during the COVID19 pandemic. RESULTS: A total of 1117 ED psychiatric visits, a sharp increase in the number of psychiatric ED visits during the pandemic with an average increase of 25.66% was observed. During the pandemic, psychiatric ED visits were significantly higher in females (adjusted AOR 1.41, 95% CI 1.08, 1.83) than males. During the COVID19 pandemic, generalized anxiety disorder was the most common psychiatric ED disorder with reported increase of visits by 53.34% (p-value 0.005). CONCLUSION: ED psychiatric visits have consistently increased before and during the COVID19 pandemic. Interventions for mental health related disorders are urgently needed for preventing mental health problems among females.