Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37498908›Full record

ArticlePloS one2023

Admissions to psychiatric inpatient services and use of coercive measures in 2020 in a Swiss psychiatric department: An interrupted time-series analysis.

Alexandre Wullschleger, Leonel Gonçalves, Maya Royston, Othman Sentissi, Julia Ambrosetti, Stefan Kaiser, Stéphanie Baggio

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
7citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. 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 · 2026
    Pooled it
  2. Article
  3. Surveying Child and Adolescent Inpatient Psychiatric Units: Demographics, Policies, and Practice.Evidence-based practice in child and adolescent mental health · 2024
    Article
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors.

Alexandre WullschlegerDepartment of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0001-9282-8064
Leonel GonçalvesDivision of Prison Health, Geneva University Hospitals & University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland.
Maya RoystonDepartment of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Othman SentissiDepartment of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Julia AmbrosettiDepartment of Acute Medicine, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-5775-4589
Stefan KaiserDepartment of Psychiatry, Geneva University Hospitals, Geneva, Switzerland.
Stéphanie BaggioInstitute of Primary Health Care (BIHAM), University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe CoVID pandemic and the associated lockdown had a significant impact on mental health services. Inpatient services faced the challenge of offering acute psychiatric while implementing strict infection control measures. There is, however, a lack of studies investigating the use of coercive measures during the pandemic and their relation to hospitalizations and symptom severity.

aimsTo investigate the effects of the CoVID outbreak on psychiatric admissions, use of seclusion and symptom severity.

methodUsing routine data from 2019 and 2020 gathered in the Department of Psychiatry at the Geneva University Hospitals, we performed an interrupted time series analysis. This included the number of psychiatric hospitalizations, the proportion of people who experienced seclusion and the average severity of symptoms as measured by the Health of Nations Outcome Scale (HoNOS). Dependent variables were regressed on the time variable using regression model with bootstrapped standard errors.

resultsHospitalizations decreased over time (b = -0.57, 95% CI: -0.67; -0.48, p < .001). A structural break in the data (supremum Wald test: p < .001) was observed in the 12th week of 2020. There was an inverse relationship between the number of admissions and the proportions of people subject to seclusion (b = 0.21, 95% CI: -0.32; -0.09, p < .001). There was a statistically marginally significant inverse relationship between HoNOS scores at admission and the number of psychiatric hospitalizations (b = -1.28, 95% CI: -2.59, 0.02, p = .054).

conclusionOur results show that the CoVID pandemic in 2020 was associated with a significant decrease in the number of hospital admissions. This decrease was correlated with a greater use of seclusion. The higher burden of symptoms and the difficult implementation of infection control measures might explain this higher use of coercion.

Indexed as

COVID-19Mental DisordersCoercionHospitalizationHospitals, PsychiatricHumansInfection ControlInpatientsInterrupted Time Series AnalysisRestraint, PhysicalSwitzerland

Identifiers

PMID37498908
PMCPMC10374153

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Registered trials

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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.