AUTHOR=Zielasek Jürgen , Vrinssen Jürgen , Gouzoulis-Mayfrank Euphrosyne 

TITLE=Utilization of Inpatient Mental Health Care in the Rhineland During the COVID-19 Pandemic

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Public Health

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2021

YEAR=2021

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/public-health/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.593307

DOI=10.3389/fpubh.2021.593307

ISSN=2296-2565

ABSTRACT=Background
During the Coronavirus-19 disorder (COVID-19) pandemic, considerable changes occurred in the utilisation of mental healthcare. 

Objectives
Analysis of the changes of inpatient and day patient mental healthcare utilisation in an association of psychiatric hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Materials and Methods
We used the statistics database of the association of nine psychiatric hospitals of the Rhineland Regional Council (Landschaftsverband Rheinland, LVR). We compared the case numbers of spring 2019 and spring 2020 and analyzed alterations in the diagnostic spectrum. Finally, we analyzed age, gender and diagnoses of patients tested positive for COVID-19. 

Results
25,612 in-patient psychiatric hospital admissions were assessed. Case rates sank by 25% during the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes varied between diagnostic groups, and there were even increases of case numbers for certain diagnoses. Women and patients of higher ages were overrepresented among psychiatric in-patients with COVID-19. 

Conclusions
The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in considerable reductions of the total number of mental healthcare admissions and in changes of the diagnostic spectrum. The results may be explainable by deferrals of elective hospital admissions during the acute phase of the pandemic and by destabilising