The impact of COVID-19 quarantine on mental health: an observational study from an outpatient service for non-psychotic patients in Russia (Moscow)

Submitted: 6 November 2022
Accepted: 21 March 2023
Published: 23 June 2023
Abstract Views: 822
PDF: 254
Publisher's note
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

Authors

We aimed to compare psychiatric hospital visits during the COVID-19 quarantine period with the same period in 2019, to reveal the predictors of underutilization of mental health services. We then investigated the fluctuation of telemedicine service during the quarantine period. The retrospective study included patients with non-psychotic mental disorders who consecutively visited the Moscow clinic. The number of outpatient visits, inpatient admissions, sociodemographic factors were analyzed. We assessed the sample within two periods - the “quarantine period” (March 30 - June 9, 2020) and “control period” (March 30 - June 9, 2019). Psychiatric visits decreased in older, retired and disabled persons, and increased among the unemployed. In multivariate analysis, the reduction became significant for the number of inpatient admissions. Telemedicine calls gradually increased from the start of the service, but decreased towards the end of the quarantine. In conclusion, referrals to outpatient and inpatient psychiatric services decreased during the quarantine period, with newly established TMS potentially compensating for that decrease. The strongest factor associated with visits during the pandemic is employment status.

Dimensions

Altmetric

PlumX Metrics

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Citations

Fiorillo A, Sampogna G, Giallonardo V, et al. Effects of the lockdown on the mental health of the general population during the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy: Results from the COMET collaborative network. Eur Psychiatry 2020;63:e87. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1192/j.eurpsy.2020.89
Berardelli I, Sarubbi S, Rogante E, et al. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on suicide ideation and suicide attempts in a sample of psychiatric inpatients. Psychiatry Res 2021;303:114072. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114072
Costanza A, Di Marco S, Burroni M, et al. Meaning in life and demoralization: a mental-health reading perspective of suicidality in the time of COVID-19. Acta Biomed 2020;91:e2020163.
Benatti B, Albert U, Maina G, et al. What happened to patients with obsessive compulsive disorder during the COVID-19 pandemic? A multicentre report from tertiary clinics in Northern Italy. Front Psychiatry 2020;11:720. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2020.00720
Gualano MR, Lo Moro G, Voglino G, et al. Monitoring the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on mental health: a public health challenge? Reflection on Italian data. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatric Epidemiol 2021;56:165–167. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-020-01971-0
Brooks SK, Webster RK, Smith LE, et al. The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it: rapid review of the evidence. Lancet 2020;395:912–20. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(20)30460-8
Beghi M, Brandolini R, Casolaro I, et al. Effects of lockdown on emergency room admissions for psychiatric evaluation: an observational study from the AUSL Romagna, Italy. Int J Psychiatry Clin Pract 2021;25:135–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13651501.2020.1859120
Ambrosetti J, Macheret L, Folliet A, et al. Psychiatric emergency admissions during and after COVID-19 lockdown: short-term impact and long-term implications on mental health. BMC Psychiatry 2021;21:465. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-021-03469-8
Hoyer C, Ebert A, Szabo K, et al. Decreased utilization of mental health emergency service during the COVID-19 pandemic. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2021;271:377–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00406-020-01151-w
Balestrieri M, Rucci P, Amendola D, et al. Emergency psychiatric consultations during and after the COVID-19 lockdown in Italy. A multicentre study. Front Psychiatry 2021;12:697058. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2021.697058
Yalçın M, Baş A, Bilici R, et al. Psychiatric emergency visit trends and characteristics in a mental health epicenter in Istanbul during COVID-19 lockdown. Soc Psychiatry Psychiatr Epidemiol 2021;56:2299–310. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00127-021-02171-0
Pignon B, Gourevitch R, Tebeka S, et al. Dramatic reduction of psychiatric emergency consultations during lockdown linked to COVID-19 in Paris and suburbs. Psychiat Clin Neurosci 2020;74:557–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pcn.13104
Piccinelli MP, Bortolaso P, Wilkinson GD. Rethinking hospital psychiatry in Italy in light of COVID-19 experience. World J Virol 2022;1173–81. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5501/wjv.v11.i1.73
Boldrini T, Girardi P, Clerici M, et al. Consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on admissions to general hospital psychiatric wards in Italy: Reduced psychiatric hospitalizations and increased suicidality. Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacology Biol Psychiatry 2021;110:110304. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pnpbp.2021.110304
Castelpietra G, Colli C, Tossut D, et al. The impact of Covid-19 pandemic on community-oriented mental health services: The experience of Friuli Venezia Giulia region, Italy. Heal Policy Technol 2021;10:143–50. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2020.12.002
Perozziello A, Sousa D, Aubriot B, et al. Use of mental health services in the aftermath of COVID-19 waves: a retrospective study conducted in a French Psychiatric and Neurosciences University Hospital. BMJ Open 2023;13:e064305. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjopen-2022-064305
Giannouchos TV, Biskupiak J, Moss MJ, et al. Trends in outpatient emergency department visits during the COVID-19 pandemic at a large, urban, academic hospital system. Am J Emerg Med 2021;40:20–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajem.2020.12.009
Moreno C, Wykes T, Galderisi S, et al. How mental health care should change as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic. Lancet Psychiat 2020;7:813–24. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30307-2
Barnett ML, Huskamp HA. Telemedicine for Mental Health in the United States: Making Progress, Still a Long Way to Go. Psychiatr Serv 2020;71:197–8. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.201900555
Gentile A, De Berardis D, Tomasetti C, et al. Digital psychiatry in COVID-19 pandemic: An Italian perspective. Psychiatry Res 2020;292:113316. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113316
Jayawardana D, Gannon B. Use of telehealth mental health services during the COVID-19 pandemic. Austral Health Rev 2021;45:442–6. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1071/AH20325
Amerio A, Odone A, Marzano L, et al. Covid-19: The last call for telepsychiatry. Acta Biomedica 2020;91:1–2.
Rosenberg S, Mendoza J, Tabatabaei-Jafari H, et al. International experiences of the active period of COVID-19 - Mental health care. Heal Policy Technol 2020;9:503–9. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.hlpt.2020.08.016
Stein HC, Giordano B, del Giudice R, et al. Pre/post comparison study of emergency mental health visits during the COVID-19 lockdown in Lombardy, Italy. Psychiat Clinical Neurosci 2020;74:605–7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/pcn.13126
Öngür D, Perlis R, Goff D. Psychiatry and COVID-19. JAMA 2020; 324: 1149. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2020.14294
D Agostino A, D’Angelo S, Giordano B, et al. Brief Psychotic Disorder During the National Lockdown in Italy: An Emerging Clinical Phenomenon of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Schizophr Bull 2021;47:15–22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/schbul/sbaa112
Esposito CM, D’Agostino A, Dell Osso B, et al. Impact of the first Covid-19 pandemic wave on first episode psychosis in Milan, Italy. Psychiatry Res 2021;298:113802. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2021.113802
Bergeron A, Décary-Hétu D, Giommoni L. Preliminary findings of the impact of COVID-19 on drugs crypto markets. Int J Drug Policy 2020;83:102870. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.drugpo.2020.102870
Gili A, Bacci M, Aroni K, et al. Changes in drug use patterns during the covid-19 pandemic in italy: Monitoring a vulnerable group by hair analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021;18:1–11. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18041967
Cornaggia CM, Beghi M, Mezzanzanica M, et al. Psychotropic Drug Consumption and Employment Status in Time of Economic Crisis (2007–2011). Psychiatr Q 2017;88:371–84. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11126-016-9448-9
Yellowlees P, Nakagawa K, Pakyurek M, et al. Rapid conversion of an outpatient psychiatric clinic to a 100% virtual telepsychiatry clinic in response to COVID-19. Psychiatr Serv 2020;71:749–52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.ps.202000230
Roncero C, García-Ullán L, de la Iglesia-Larrad JI, et al. The response of the mental health network of the Salamanca area to the COVID-19 pandemic: The role of the telemedicine. Psychiatry Res 2020;291:113252. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psychres.2020.113252
Kinoshita S, Cortright K, Crawford A, et al. Changes in Telepsychiatry Regulations during the COVID-19 Pandemic: 17 Countries and Regions’ Approaches to an Evolving Healthcare Landscape. Psychol Med 2022;52:2606-13. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291720004584
De Picker LJ, Yolken R, Benedetti F, et al. Viewpoint | European COVID-19 exit strategy for people with severe mental disorders: Too little, but not yet too late. Brain, Behav Immun 2021;94:15–17. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2021.01.008

How to Cite

Zinchuk, M., Beghi, M., Castelpietra, G., Ferrari, S., Pashnin, E., & Guekht, A. (2023). The impact of COVID-19 quarantine on mental health: an observational study from an outpatient service for non-psychotic patients in Russia (Moscow). Emergency Care Journal, 19(2). https://doi.org/10.4081/ecj.2023.10994