Effects of COVID-19 pandemic on psychiatric and psychological consultation-liaison services

Francesco AMADDEO¹, Eleonora PRINA¹, Federico TEDESCHI¹, Laura RABBI¹, Mario BALLARIN¹

¹Department of Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement. University of Verona, Verona, Italy

Introduction. The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted significant changes in healthcare, particularly affecting psychiatric and psychological Consultation-Liaison (CL) services in general hospital settings. This study investigates the impact of pandemic-related restrictions on these services in a General Hospital in Northeast Italy.

The aim of the study is to assess the effects of COVID-19-related restrictions on use of psychiatric and psychological CL services during 2020, and to compare it to the one in the previous year (2019).

Methods. The study collected data on psychiatric and psychological consultations in 2019 and 2020 from a hospital database. It categorizes consultations by type of patient (inpatient or outpatient) and referral source (hospital wards, general practitioners, other specialists). Pandemic-related restrictions were classified as "lockdown," "intermediate restrictions," and "no or reduced restrictions" based on the Covid Stringency Index (CSI). Poisson regression models were employed to analyze the data.

Results. The findings reveal a significant 28% increase in the number of psychiatric and psychological consultations in 2020. Notably, consultations for outpatients increased by 51%, while those for inpatients decreased by 11%. However, the lockdown and intermediate restriction phases were deemed responsible of a decrease of 42.9% and 19.5% in consultations, respectively, which could be attributed to patient reluctance to seek in-person care and healthcare providers' caution in admitting vulnerable patients.

Discussion. The study underscores the need to incorporate telemedicine options in psychiatric and psychological consultation services to address patient demands, especially during periods of heightened restrictions. These insights can inform policies and practices at both local and international levels, ensuring effective mental health care delivery during and beyond the pandemic. Future research should explore the impact of pandemic-related restrictions on mental health care across different settings and consider various clinical factors influencing access to services.