Institute for Mental Health Policy Research, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto, Canada.
ICES, Toronto, Canada.
Can J Psychiatry. 2023 Dec;68(12):925-932. doi: 10.1177/07067437231167386. Epub 2023 Apr 3.
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric hospitalizations in Ontario are unknown. The purpose of this study was to identify changes to volumes and characteristics of psychiatric hospitalizations in Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic.
A time series analysis was done using psychiatric hospitalizations with admissions dates from July 2017 to September 2021 identified from provincial health administrative data. Variables included monthly volumes of hospitalizations as well as proportions of stays <3 days and involuntary admissions, overall and by diagnosis (mood, psychotic, addiction, and other disorders). Changes to trends during the pandemic were tested using linear regression.
A total of 236,634 psychiatric hospitalizations were identified. Volumes decreased in the first few months of the pandemic before returning to prepandemic volumes by May 2020. However, monthly hospitalizations for psychotic disorders increased by ∼9% compared to the prepandemic period and remained elevated thereafter. Short stays and involuntary admissions increased by approximately 2% and 7%, respectively, before trending downwards.
Psychiatric hospitalizations quickly stabilized in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, evidence suggested a shift towards a more severe presentation during this period.
新冠疫情对安大略省精神科住院治疗的影响尚不清楚。本研究旨在确定新冠疫情期间安大略省精神科住院治疗量和特征的变化。
利用省级卫生行政数据中 2017 年 7 月至 2021 年 9 月的入院日期，对精神科住院患者进行了时间序列分析。变量包括住院量的月度变化，以及<3 天和非自愿入院的比例，总体和按诊断（情绪、精神病、成瘾和其他障碍）分类。使用线性回归检验大流行期间趋势变化。
共确定了 236634 例精神科住院治疗。在大流行的前几个月，住院量下降，然后在 2020 年 5 月前恢复到大流行前的水平。然而，与大流行前相比，精神病住院治疗量增加了约 9%，此后一直居高不下。短期住院和非自愿入院分别增加了约 2%和 7%，然后呈下降趋势。
精神科住院治疗在新冠疫情的影响下迅速稳定下来。然而，有证据表明在此期间的表现更加严重。
