Emergency departments may have increases in mental health (MH) visits after COVID-19 surges, according to a study published online March 16 in JAMA Psychiatry.
Kayla N. Anderson, Ph.D., from the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control in Atlanta, and colleagues examined changes in adult MH-related emergency department visits into the delta variant pandemic period and identified changes and inequities in these visits before and during COVID-19 case surges. Analysis included 107.8 million emergency visits among adults (aged 18 to 64 years) from Jan. 1, description of prescribed pills 2019, to Aug. 14, 2021.
The researchers found that MH-related emergency visit counts depended on the COVID-19 pandemic period examined, whether this was compared with other periods in the pandemic or prepandemic period, and which mental disorder was examined. Between- and within-group variation in emergency visits by race and ethnicity varied by pandemic period examined. MH-related emergency visits accounted for a larger proportion of emergency visits after a COVID-19 case peak versus during a peak (visit ratio, 1.04) and the corresponding prepandemic period (visit ratio, 1.11). After COVID-19 case peaks, there were increases noted in some disorders for adults aged 18 to 24 years.
Source: Read Full Article