Department of Orthopaedics and Trauma-Surgery, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Clinical Division of Social Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Wien Klin Wochenschr. 2021 Sep;133(17-18):915-922. doi: 10.1007/s00508-021-01839-6. Epub 2021 Mar 31.
In response to the current coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic the Austrian government issued a lockdown from 16 March to 15 May 2020. As periods of economic and emotional burden have proven to detrimentally affect people's psychological health, healthcare officials warned that the strict measures could have a serious impact on psychological health, leading to an increase in suicide attempts. Thus, the objective was to provide evidence for this assumption.
All adult patients admitted to the trauma resuscitation room of the Medical University of Vienna during the lockdown period following a suicide attempt were included in this analysis, forming the study group. Suicidal patients treated during the same period in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019 were pooled to create the control group. The year 2017 was excluded because another major hospital in Vienna was partially closed due to a change in infrastructure, resulting in an increased number of severely injured patients treated at our department. As the lockdown caused a markedly decreased number of patients admitted due to other reasons than suicide the actual number was replaced with the average number of patients admitted in the relevant previous 4 years.
By comparing the study and the control group based on this realistic estimate we revealed an increase in attempted suicides during the lockdown period (p = 0.001). Demographic, mental health-related, and injury specific patient data did not differ between the groups.
The results strongly urge for an improvement in crisis intervention and suicide prevention measures in the event of a future lockdown.
为应对当前的 2019 年冠状病毒病（COVID-19）大流行，奥地利政府于 2020 年 3 月 16 日至 5 月 15 日实施封锁。由于经济和情绪负担期已被证明会对人们的心理健康产生不利影响，医疗保健官员警告称，这些严格措施可能会对心理健康产生严重影响，导致自杀企图增加。因此，本研究旨在为这一假设提供证据。
本分析纳入了在封锁期间因自杀企图而被送入维也纳医科大学创伤复苏室的所有成年患者，作为研究组。将 2015 年、2016 年、2018 年和 2019 年同期接受治疗的自杀患者进行汇总，形成对照组。排除 2017 年，因为维也纳的另一家大医院因基础设施变化而部分关闭，导致在我院治疗的重伤患者数量增加。由于封锁导致因自杀以外原因入院的患者数量明显减少，实际入院人数被相关前 4 年的平均入院人数所取代。
通过基于这种现实估计比较研究组和对照组，我们发现封锁期间自杀企图增加（p=0.001）。两组患者的人口统计学、心理健康相关和损伤特异性患者数据无差异。
研究结果强烈呼吁在未来封锁期间改进危机干预和自杀预防措施。
