Psychiatric Emergency Admissions and Inpatient Length of Stay Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany

Objective The impact of the COVID-19 year on the number of daily psychiatric emergency admissions and length of stay was compared with previous years. Methods In a retrospective study, the four quarters of 2020 of several psychiatric hospitals in Germany were statistically compared with the respective quarters of 2018 and 2019. Results A total of 73,412 cases was analyzed. In the 2 (nd) quarter of 2020, the number of daily admissions was significantly lower as compared to the control period (59.1 vs. 70.7; incidence rate ratio [95 % confidence interval] 0.81 [0.69; 0.96]; p = 0.012). Length of stay was numerically but not significantly different as compared to the control periods. Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic had a strong impact on inpatient psychiatric care. In the future, multimodal care structures must ensure the care of severely mentally ill people in crisis situations.

Automated summary

The COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the number of daily psychiatric emergency admissions, with a decrease in admissions compared to previous years. Length of stay was not significantly different. Multimodal care structures are needed to ensure the care of patients with severe mental illness in crisis situations.