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Background. Although the prevalence of work-limiting diseases is increasing, the interplay between occupational exposures and chronic medical conditions remains largely uncharacterized. Research has shown the detrimental effects of workplace bullying but very little is known about the humanistic and productivity cost in victims with chronic illnesses. We sought to assess work productivity losses and health disutility associated with bullying among subjects with chronic medical conditions. Methods. Participants (N = 1717) with chronic diseases answered a self-administered survey including sociodemographic and clinical data, workplace bullying experience, the SF-12 questionnaire, and the Work Productivity Activity Impairment questionnaire. Results. The prevalence of significant impairment was higher among victims of workplace bullying as compared to nonvictims (SF-12 PCS: 55.5% versus 67.9%, p < 0.01; SF-12 MCS: 59.4% versus 74.3%, p < 0.01). The adjusted marginal overall productivity cost of workplace bullying ranged from 13.9% to 17.4%, corresponding to Italian Purchase Power Parity (PPP) 2010 US$ 4182–5236 yearly. Association estimates were independent and not moderated by concurrent medical conditions. Conclusions. Our findings demonstrate that the burden on workers' quality of life and productivity associated with workplace bullying is substantial. This study provides key data to inform policy-making and prioritize occupational health interventions.

Purpose The aim of our study is to evaluate the number and the features of admissions to the emergency room (ER) requiring psychiatric consultation, in the period between May 4th and August 31st 2020. Methods We carried out a retrospective longitudinal observational study examining the 4 months following the initial lockdown imposed during the COVID-19 outbreak (May 4th and August 31st 2020). More specifically, the ER admissions leading to psychiatric referral were reviewed at all seven public hospitals of AUSL Romagna (Emilia Romagna region, Italy). Socio-demographic variables, history of medical comorbidities or psychiatric disorders, reason for ER admission, psychiatric diagnosis at discharge, and actions taken by the psychiatrist were collected. Results An 11.3% ( p = 0.007) increase in psychiatric assessments was observed when compared with the same period of the previous year (2019). A positive personal history of psychiatric disorders (OR:0.68, CI: 0.53–0.87) and assessments leading to no indication for follow-up (OR: 0.22, CI: 0.13–0.39) were significantly less frequent, while there was a significant increase of cases featuring organic comorbidities (OR: 1.24, CI: 1.00–1.52) and suicidal ideation/self-harm/suicide attempt (OR: 1,71, CI: 1.19–2.45) or psychomotor agitation (OR: 1.46, CI: 1.02–2.07) as reason for admission. Conclusions Our results showed an increase in ER psychiatric consultations compared to the previous year, underlying the increased psychological distress caused by the lockdown.

The aim was to study the number of accesses to the Emergency Room (ER) requiring psychiatric evaluation in the four months following the lockdown period for the COVID-19 outbreak (May 4th, 2020-August 31th, 2020). The study is a retrospective longitudinal observational study of the ER admissions of the Hospitals of Cesena and Forlì (Emilia Romagna region) leading to psychiatric assessment. Sociodemographic variables, history for medical comorbidities or psychiatric disorders, reason for ER admission, psychiatric diagnosis at discharge and measures taken by the psychiatrist were collected. An increase of 9.4% of psychiatric assessments was observed. The difference was more pronounced in the first two months after lockdown, with a 21.7% increase of number of ER accesses, while after two months numbers were the same as those of the year before. Admission with anxiety symptoms and history of psychiatric disorder decreased significantly. Moreover, there is an age trend with an increasing age of admission.