Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39568761›Full record

ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2024

Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric and psychological consultation-liaison contacts in a general hospital in North-East of Italy: a retrospective study.

Eleonora Prina, Alice Marquis, Federico Tedeschi, Laura Rabbi, Damiano Salazzari, Mario Ballarin, Marianna Purgato, Giovanni Ostuzzi, Valeria Donisi, Cinzia Perlini and 3 more

Abstract read
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In one paragraph

Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–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

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
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

13 authors.

Eleonora PrinaSection of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Alice MarquisSection of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Federico TedeschiSection of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Laura RabbiSection of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Damiano SalazzariSection of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Mario BallarinSection of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Marianna PurgatoSection of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Giovanni OstuzziSection of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Valeria DonisiSection of Clinical Psychology, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Cinzia PerliniSection of Clinical Psychology, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Michela RimondiniSection of Clinical Psychology, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Lidia Del PiccoloSection of Clinical Psychology, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.
Francesco AmaddeoSection of Psychiatry, Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona, Italy.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted significant changes in healthcare, particularly affecting psychiatric and psychological Consultation-Liaison (CL) services in general hospital settings. Aim: To assess the effects of COVID-19-related restrictions on utilization of psychiatric and psychological CL services in Northeast Italy during 2020, and to compare it to the use of services in the previous year (2019). Methods: The study collected data on psychiatric and psychological consultations in 2019 and 2020 from a hospital database. It categorizes consultations by type of patient (inpatient or outpatient) and referral source (hospital wards, general practitioners, other specialists). Pandemic-related restrictions were classified as "lockdown," "intermediate restrictions," and "no or reduced restrictions" based on the Covid Stringency Index (CSI). Poisson regression models were employed to analyze the data. Results: The findings reveal a significant 28% increase in the number of psychiatric and psychological consultations in 2020. Consultations for outpatients increased by 51%, while those for inpatients decreased by 11%. However, the lockdown and intermediate restriction phases were deemed responsible of a decrease of 42.9% and 19.5% in consultations respectively. Discussion: This study highlights the persistent psychological burden during the COVID-19 pandemic, alongside reduced CL services due to lockdown measures. Integrating telemedicine into these types of services becomes imperative for meeting patient needs during restrictions. These findings can inform policies and practices to improve effective mental health care delivery during and beyond pandemics. Future research should explore the impact of pandemic-related restrictions on mental healthcare across settings and clinical factors affecting service accessibility.

Indexed as

consultation-liaisonCOVID-19 pandemicgeneral hospitalsmental health servicespsychiatrypsychology

Identifiers

PMID39568761
PMCPMC11577163

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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.