ArticleSocial psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology2023
Impact of the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of mental health services in South Korea: a nationwide, health insurance data-based study.
Article in Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Utilization of mental health services during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic - a systematic review and meta-analysis.European psychiatry : the journal of the Association of European Psychiatrists · 2026Pooled 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
- Association of Unmet Healthcare Needs With Depressive Symptoms and COVID-19 Pandemic-Related Factors Among Adults, 2009-2022: A Nationwide Study in Korea.Journal of Korean medical science · 2025Article
- Factors Associated with Leaving Ambulatory Psychiatric Treatment in a Large, Academic Health System During the COVID-19 Pandemic.The Psychiatric quarterly · 2025Article
- Changes in the number and characteristics of tertiary hospital psychiatric admissions in south Croatia before and during the COVID-19 pandemic: a retrospective study.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Changes in psychiatric disorder incidence patterns during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea: a study using the nationwide universal health insurance data.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Article
- The Impact of COVID-19 on Mental Healthcare Utilization in Switzerland Was Strongest Among Young Females-Retrospective Study in 2018-2020.International journal of public health · 2023Article
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7 authors.
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Abstract
purposeThe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has profoundly affected the utilization of mental health services. Existing evidence investigating this issue at the nationwide level is lacking, and it is uncertain whether the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the use of psychiatric services differs based on psychiatric diagnosis.
methodsData from the claims database between October 2015 and August 2020 was obtained from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment agency in South Korea. Based on the main diagnostic codes, psychiatric patients were identified and categorized into diagnostic groups (anxiety disorders, bipolar and related disorders, depressive disorders, and schizophrenia spectrum disorders). We calculated the number of psychiatric inpatients and outpatients and the medication adherence of patients for each month. We compared the actual and predicted values of outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic and performed interrupted time-series analyses to test the statistical significance of the impact of the pandemic.
resultsDuring the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of inpatients and admissions to psychiatric hospitals decreased for bipolar and related disorders and depressive disorders. In addition, the number of patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals for schizophrenia spectrum disorders decreased. The number of psychiatric outpatients showed no significant change in all diagnostic groups. Increased medication adherence was observed for depressive, schizophrenia spectrum, and bipolar and related disorders.
conclusionsIn the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a trend of a decreasing number of psychiatric inpatients and increasing medication adherence; however, the number of psychiatric outpatients remained unaltered.
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