100 Years apart: Psychiatric admissions during Spanish flu and COVID-19 pandemic

• Published in: Psychiatry research 2021-09, Vol.303, p.114071-114071, Article 114071
• Main Authors: Vukojević, Jakša, Đuran, Nataša, Žaja, Nikola, Sušac, Jelena, Šekerija, Mario, Savić, Aleksandar
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: COVID-19; Emergency admissions; History, 20th Century; Hospitalization; Humans; Influenza; Influenza Pandemic, 1918-1919; Mental health; Pandemics; Psychiatry; SARS-CoV-2; Spanish flu
• ISSN: 0165-1781; 1872-7123
• DOI: 10.1016/j.psychres.2021.114071

•During the Spanish flu, there was no rise in emergency psychiatric admissions.•During the Covid-19 pandemic, there was also no rise in emergency psychiatric admissions.•During the Covid-19 pandemic, the most significant decline was observed for the affective disorders group.•During the Covid-19 pandemic, the smallest decline was observed for the psychotic disorders group. The last pandemic comparable to the current COVID-19 pandemic was the Spanish flu. Using the admission record books for the years 1917 and 1918 and electronic health records for the years 2019 and 2020, we extracted the relevant data and explored how they affected the numbers of emergency psychiatric admissions. The general trend in both pandemics was that they did not cause a rise in psychiatric admissions, findings which go along with reports around Europe. The causes for these similarities are complex but provide an interesting perspective as to why there is no concurrent rise in emergency psychiatric admissions.