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Psychiatric care in Croatia during COVID-19 lockdown and earthquake: significant decrease in admissions to University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapce in Zagreb

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2022

D. Polšek ,
A. Botica ,
T. Sabo ,
M. Baković ,
V. Marinović  and
G. Arbanas
D. Polšek*
Affiliation:
University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče, Department For Psychotic Disorders, Zagreb, Croatia
A. Botica
Affiliation:
University Hospital Centre Split, Dpt. Of Psychiatry, Split, Croatia
T. Sabo
Affiliation:
University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče, Department For Psychotic Disorders, Zagreb, Croatia
M. Baković
Affiliation:
Psychiatric Hospital Ugljan, Dpt. Of Psychiatry, Ugljan, Croatia
V. Marinović
Affiliation:
University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče, Department For Psychotic Disorders, Zagreb, Croatia
G. Arbanas
Affiliation:
University of Rijeka, Medical Department, Rijeka, Croatia University Psychiatric Hospital Vrapče, Department For Forensic Psychiatry, Zagreb, Croatia
*
*Corresponding author.

Abstract

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Introduction

The COVID-19 pandemic has had an enormous impact on both physical and mental health of people around the world.

Objectives

The aim of the study was to evaluate the number and characteristics of people seeking emergency psychiatric help during combined psychosocial stressful events in March 2020.

Methods

Data for 3927 patients seeking emergency psychiatric help were collected and analyzed for the months preceding, during and after lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic and concomitant earthquake that took place on 22nd March 2020 in Zagreb, and compared with the same months of 2019.

Results

A significant decrease in both the number of visits and admissions to the hospital was found for the month of lockdown. There was a significant decrease in the number of out-patients visits and day hospital admissions. Compared with other months, more women and younger patients sought help. There was a significant rise in the number of patients presenting with suicidal thoughts, as well as a larger percentage of involuntary admissions.

Conclusions

Overall less people sought psychiatric help in the face of an unpredictable acute threat, which was interpreted in the light of prioritizing fear of infection over mental health issues. Alternatively, it is possible that people threatened with immediate danger mobilize short- term compensatory psychological resources which help deal with or put off mental illness. This research was conducted as part of the project of the Croatian Science Foundation CORONA-04-2086 Life in the time of COVID-19-social implications on the security and well-being of vulnerable groups in the European context.

Disclosure

No significant relationships.

Keywords

COVID- 19 pandemicEmergency psychiatric careHospital admissionlockdown
Type
Abstract
Information
European Psychiatry , Volume 65 , Special Issue S1: Abstracts of the 30th European Congress of Psychiatry , June 2022 , pp. S193
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the European Psychiatric Association
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