Observational studyBMC psychiatry2022
Changes in self-harm- and violence-related urgent psychiatric consultation in the emergency department during the different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Observational study in BMC psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled 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
- Incidence of Deliberate Self-Harm in Hong Kong Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Population-Wide Retrospective Cohort Study.JMIR public health and surveillance · 2025Article
- Police-referred psychiatric emergency presentations during the first and second wave of COVID-19 in Berlin, Germany: a retrospective chart review.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Correction to: Changes in self-harm- and violence-related urgent psychiatric consultation in the emergency department during the different stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.BMC psychiatry · 2023Article
- Factors Affecting Self-Harm- or Violence-Related Urgent Psychiatric Consultation During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Taiwan.Psychology research and behavior management · 2023Article
- Increase in presentations with new-onset psychiatric disorders in a psychiatric emergency department in Berlin, Germany during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic - a retrospective cross-sectional study.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic significantly affected emergency department (ED) visits and urgent psychiatric consultation (UPC) seeking behavior in EDs. Our study explored the changes in UPCs during and after the pandemic peak.
methodsThis retrospective observational study evaluated UPCs in the ED of a referral medical center in Taiwan, where treated both physical and psychiatric complaints. We defined the COVID-19 pandemic peak period as calendar week 4-18, 2020. The corresponding baseline as calendar week 4-18, 2019, and the slack period as week 4-18, 2021. The total number of UPCs, patient demographic data such as sex and age of the patients seen, the referral system (whether police or emergency medical service [EMS] or other sources), and the chief complaint (self-harm or violence) were recorded.
resultsCompared with the baseline period, a significant decline in UPCs was observed in the pandemic peak period, and a rebound was observed in the slack period, with the median [IQR] Q1, Q3 values of 22 [18, 26], 12 [10, 17]), and 16 [15, 23], respectively. We observed significantly few men (34.9% vs 45.2%) and less violence (10.2% vs 17.6%) in the peak period compared with in the baseline period, but no significant difference was found compared with the slack period. Throughout the pandemic, younger patients (41.8 ± 17.4 in 2019, 39.2 ± 18.5 [p = 0.121] in 2020, and 35.6 ± 17.2 [p < 0.001] in 2021), higher proportions of police/EMS referral (38.7% in 2019, 41.9% [p = 0.473] in 2020, and 51.9% [p = 0.001] in 2021) and self-harm-related complaints (57% in 2019, 62.4% [p = 0.233] in 2020, and 64.9% [p = 0.049] in 2021) was noted among UPC seekers during the pandemic. However, the proportion of violence-related UPCs (17.6% in 2019, 10.2% [p = 0.023] in 2020, and 12.3% [p = 0.072] in 2021) declined.
conclusionsThis study found that UPCs changed throughout the pandemic. This result raises the concern that mental health needs are masked during the pandemic.
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