Psychiatric Admissions in a Large Hospital in Madrid during COVID-19 Lockdown: Was There a Change in Patient Profile?

Abstract

Introduction. COVID-19 led to a reorganization of health care in Madrid. The objective of this study is to describe the sociodemographic and clinical profile of psychiatric patients admitted to Gregorio Marañón Hospital during lockdown.

Methods. A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted and data were collected from all admissions to our psychiatric unit from March 15 to May 30, 2019 and 2020. A protocol was developed including clinical and sociodemographic variables and a series of variables referring to the year prior to admission. In addition to descriptive statistics, we used Student’s t test to compare quantitative variables and χ² for qualitative variables.

Results. In 2020, the attended population increased by 312.5%, while admissions increased only 2.5%.

Socioeconomic status was significantly lower in 2020 (χ²=18.041; p=0.001). The number of previous hospitalizations was significantly higher in 2019 patients (t=2,147; p=0.032), but the variables that measured only the previous year reflected more time of psychopathology (χ²=7.407; p=0.025) and hospitalization (χ²=16,765; p = 0.000) in 2020, as well as more dysfunctional family relationships (χ²=33.819; p=0.000) and less autonomy (χ²=6.387; p=0.041). The index admission was significantly shorter in 2020 (t=2.977; p=0.003). There were also significant differences in the reason for admission, diagnosis, and substance use.

Conclusions. There was a decrease in attendance to emergency services and the need for hospital admissions and an increase in the proportion of admissions in people with an unfavorable social and family background and with psychotic and bipolar disorders.