ArticlePublic health2020
Negative impacts of COVID-19 lockdown on mental health service access and follow-up adherence for immigrants and individuals in socio-economic difficulties.
Article in Public health, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 80 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
80 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 182 citations in OpenAlex.
- Expanding our understanding of digital mental health interventions for Indigenous youth: An updated systematic review.Journal of telemedicine and telecare · 2025Pooled it
- Access and use of general and mental health services before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMJ open · 2025Pooled it
- Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthcare Utilization among Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2023Pooled it
- Exploring the Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Health Outcomes in Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2020Pooled it
- "I'm not alone": perinatal women's experiences in an online self-directed program for perinatal anxiety.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2025Trial
- Adverse childhood experiences, bullying victimization and risk of suicidal ideation among adolescents: evidence from a longitudinal cohort.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Towards the development of actionable recommendations for improving mental healthcare access for migrants: a qualitative study in Munich, Germany.BMC public health · 2026Article
- Identifying predictors of use of mental health services and supports during the COVID-19 pandemic: an analysis of the CHILD COVID-19 Add-on Study.Frontiers in health services · 2026Article
- Gaps in psychiatric care before and after the COVID-19 pandemic among patients with depression using electronic health records.Psychiatry research · 2025Article
- Effect of COVID-19 lockdowns on quality-of-life and health services access by socio-economic status in Australia.Health promotion international · 2024Article
- In-Person and Teleconsultation Services at a National Hospital in Peru: Time Series Analysis of General and Psychiatric Care Amid the COVID-19 Pandemic.JMIR mental health · 2024Observational
- Article
- Antecedents and Consequences of Health Literacy among Refugees and Migrants during the First Two Years of COVID-19: A Scoping Review.Tropical medicine and infectious disease · 2024Article
- Exploring Barriers to Effective COVID-19 Risk Mitigation, Recovery, and Chronic Disease Self-Management: A Qualitative Multilevel Perspective.Patient related outcome measures · 2024Article
- Refugees' integration and emotional distress over the course of 9 months.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Article
- The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on access to mental health services and socioeconomic inequalities in Italy.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
- Self-perception of mental health, COVID-19 and associated sociodemographic-contextual factors in Latin America.Cadernos de saude publica · 2024Article
- Article
- Migrants and Healthcare during COVID-19, the Case of Kanchanaburi Province in Thailand.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Association between immigrant concentration and mental health service utilization in the United States over time: A geospatial big data analysis.Health & place · 2023Article
20 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesLockdown measures in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can have serious mental health effects on the population, especially in vulnerable groups, such as those living in poor socio-economic conditions, those who are homeless, migrant workers and asylum seekers/refugees. In addition, these vulnerable groups frequently have greater difficulty accessing health services and in treatment adherence. The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of the COVID-19-related lockdown on service utilisation and follow-up adherence in an Italian mental health outpatient service for migrants and individuals in socio-economic difficulties. STUDY
designThe design of this study is a retrospective cross-sectional study.
methodsAll patients who visited the mental health outpatient service in the months of February and March in the years 2017-2020 were included in the study. To compare service utilisation before and after the lockdown, the number of patients who visited the mental health outpatient service for psychiatric interview were recorded. Follow-up adherence was calculated as the percentage of patients who visited in February and subsequently attended a follow-up visit in March of the same year.
resultsThe number of patients who visited the outpatient service between February 2017 and February 2020 was continuously increasing. In March 2020, fewer patients visited the service for psychiatric interview, in line with the introduction of lockdown measures. In addition, the number of the patients who visited in February 2020 and returned for their follow-up visits in March 2020 declined from approximately 30% over the same months in 2017-2019 to 17.53% in March 2020.
conclusionsThe lockdown-related reduction in numbers of patients accessing the mental health service makes it difficult to help vulnerable populations during a period of time in which their mental health needs are expected to increase. Moreover, the reduction seen in follow-up compliance increases the risk of treatment discontinuation and possible relapse. Proactive alternative strategies need to be developed to reach these vulnerable populations.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.