Akram Salman, Sah Swarnakar Ankur, Lodeiro Madeline, Jalil Ahmad, Majeed Aleena, Mukhtar Fahad, Akram Faisal
Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Saint Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, USA.
Psychiatry, Saint Elizabeths Hospital, Washington, USA.
Cureus. 2023 Nov 26;15(11):e49440. doi: 10.7759/cureus.49440. eCollection 2023 Nov.
This study explores the impact of coronavirus disease (COVID) pandemic-related social distancing measures on the incidence of inpatient aggression at a public psychiatric hospital Methods: Data was gathered from the hospital's unusual incident (UI) database for the time period ranging from January 1, 2015, to December 31, 2020. Based on the implementation of major social distancing measures, March 6, 2020, was set as a cutoff time point to categorize aggressive events into pre-COVID and post-COVID groups. Data was analyzed using Chi-square tests and general linear modeling. The p-value was set at ≤0.05.
After the implementation of social distancing measures, there was a decrease in the absolute number of inpatient aggressive events from 15.0/week to 12.6/week (mean difference: 2.4/week, p=0.032). However, this decrease was primarily attributable to a decrease in hospital census. There was a decrease in the proportion of seven-day and 14-day post-admission aggressive events by 5.4% and 12.1%, respectively. Concurrently, there was a 4.9% increase in recurrent aggression. Emergency psychiatric medication administration and the use of physical restraint decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Consistent with previous results, this study reports a decrease in the incidence of inpatient aggression during the COVID-19 pandemic. Social distancing measures can be utilized as a tool to decrease the incidence of inpatient aggression and the use of physical restraints.
本研究探讨冠状病毒病（COVID）大流行相关的社交距离措施对一家公立精神病医院住院患者攻击行为发生率的影响。方法：收集了该医院2015年1月1日至2020年12月31日期间的异常事件（UI）数据库中的数据。根据主要社交距离措施的实施情况，将2020年3月6日设为截止时间点，将攻击事件分为COVID前和COVID后两组。使用卡方检验和一般线性模型对数据进行分析。将p值设定为≤0.05。
实施社交距离措施后，住院患者攻击事件的绝对数量从每周15.0起降至每周12.6起（平均差异：每周2.4起，p = 0.032）。然而，这种下降主要归因于医院普查人数的减少。入院后7天和14天攻击事件的比例分别下降了5.4%和12.1%。同时，复发性攻击行为增加了4.9%。在COVID-19大流行期间，紧急精神科药物的使用和身体约束的使用有所减少。
与先前的结果一致，本研究报告了COVID-19大流行期间住院患者攻击行为发生率的下降。社交距离措施可作为降低住院患者攻击行为发生率和身体约束使用的一种手段。
