Emerging Psychiatric Themes in Post-COVID-19 Patients on a Psychiatry Consultation-liaison Service

Samer El Hayek, Ghida Kassir, Hussein Zalzale, Jairo M. Gonzalez-Diaz, Maya Bizri

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch Articlepeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

The need for consultation-liaison psychiatry on COVID-19 wards has substantially increased since the start of the pandemic. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to summarize the characteristics of patients admitted to the post-COVID-19 ward of the American University of Beirut Medical Center who received a psychiatric consultation. We collected relevant sociodemographic and medical data, information about past psychiatric history, psychiatry consultation details, hospital course, and disposition outcome. We also conducted chi-square and binary logistic regression analyses to assess the association between the different variables and disposition outcome. A total of 52 patients (mean age 57.33 years; equal gender distribution) were seen by the psychiatry consult-liaison team. Most had medical comorbidities and 21.2% required intubation. The most prevalent psychiatric diagnoses were delirium (30.8%), major depressive episode (15.4%), and other anxiety disorder (15.4%). Pharmacological management was implemented in 90.4% of cases and mainly included second-generation antipsychotics (36.5%). Non-pharmacological interventions consisted of those related to delirium and therapy for anxiety. Only intubation was significantly associated with disposition outcome (p = 0.004). This study highlights the various psychiatric themes emerging during the acute and post-acute periods of hospitalization for COVID-19. Hospitalized individuals recovering from the infection should be diligently screened and referred to the psychiatry consultation-liaison team to ensure the implementation of appropriate interventions.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)1785-1796
Number of pages12
JournalPsychiatric Quarterly
Volume92
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Aug 31 2021

All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes

  • Psychiatry and Mental health

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