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. 2021 Mar;271(2):377-379.
doi: 10.1007/s00406-020-01151-w. Epub 2020 Jun 9.

Decreased utilization of mental health emergency service during the COVID-19 pandemic

Carolin Hoyer  1 , Anne Ebert  1 , Kristina Szabo  1 , Michael Platten  1 , Andreas Meyer-Lindenberg  2 , Laura Kranaster  3
Affiliations

Decreased utilization of mental health emergency service during the COVID-19 pandemic

Carolin Hoyer et al. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2021 Mar.

Abstract

During the rapid rise of the COVID-19 pandemic, a reduction of the numbers of patients presenting to emergency departments has been observed. We present an early study from a German psychiatric hospital to assess the dynamics of mental health emergency service utilization rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our results show that the numbers of emergency presentations decreased, and a positive correlation between these numbers and mobility of the general public suggests an impact of extended measures of social distancing. This finding underscores the necessity of raising and sustaining awareness regarding the threat to mental health in the context of the pandemic.

Keywords: COVID-19; Emergency treatment; Pandemics; Psychiatry.

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Conflict of interest statement

On behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Difference (in %) of mental health service utilization (positive Y axis) between weeks 10–15 in 2020 and weeks 10–15 in 2019, and difference (in %) of number of trips (red) and kilometers traveled (orange) in Mannheim (negative Y axis), between calendar weeks 2–11 and weeks 12–15 in 2020
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

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