Pontillo, M.; Menghini, D.; Averna, R.; Labonia, M.; Lazzaro, G.; Tata, M.C.; Vicari, S. Psychiatric Hospitalization for Psychopathological Disorders and Self-Injurious Behaviors in Italian Children and Adolescents during COVID-19. Children2023, 10, 1846.
Pontillo, M.; Menghini, D.; Averna, R.; Labonia, M.; Lazzaro, G.; Tata, M.C.; Vicari, S. Psychiatric Hospitalization for Psychopathological Disorders and Self-Injurious Behaviors in Italian Children and Adolescents during COVID-19. Children 2023, 10, 1846.
Pontillo, M.; Menghini, D.; Averna, R.; Labonia, M.; Lazzaro, G.; Tata, M.C.; Vicari, S. Psychiatric Hospitalization for Psychopathological Disorders and Self-Injurious Behaviors in Italian Children and Adolescents during COVID-19. Children2023, 10, 1846.
Pontillo, M.; Menghini, D.; Averna, R.; Labonia, M.; Lazzaro, G.; Tata, M.C.; Vicari, S. Psychiatric Hospitalization for Psychopathological Disorders and Self-Injurious Behaviors in Italian Children and Adolescents during COVID-19. Children 2023, 10, 1846.
Abstract
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the quarantine measures on children and adolescents’ hospitalization psychiatric has been poorly studied, especially in Italy, the first European country to adopt social restrictions. To fill this gap, this retrospective study examined changes in admissions to our child and adolescent psychiatry ward from the emergency department during the two COVID-19 quarantine periods in Italy (March to June 2020; October 2020 to January 2021) compared with two reference periods (defined as 12 months prior to the respective quarantine periods). Specifically, we examined data on the number of inpatients and the distribution of psychopathological disorders (i.e., psychosis, mood disorder) and self-injurious behaviors. The results revealed significantly fewer admissions during the first quarantine period relative to the first reference period and, conversely, significantly more admissions during the second quarantine period relative to the second reference period. Of note, the results showed an increased frequency of mood disorders, non-suicidal self-injurious behaviors and suicidal ideation during the quarantine periods, compared to the reference periods. The findings underline the need to focus on the psychopathological profile of children and adolescents with patient-tailored therapeutic interventions and suggest the importance of developing psychological healthcare services for future emergency periods..
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
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