Patterns of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Admissions Before and After the Onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Clinical Study from Istanbul

Abstract

Background Very few studies compared the rates of child psychiatry diagnoses between the initial phase of the pandemic and the pre-pandemic records in clinical samples. This study from Istanbul aimed to compare the child and adolescent psychiatric admissions and diagnosis rates between the first three months of the pandemic, the previous three months in the same year and the same months in the previous year. Methods Children and adolescents were grouped according to the admission dates. Group A, between March 11 to June 1 2020; Group B, between January 1st to March 11 2020 and; Group C, between March 11 to June 1 2019. Only clinical interviews and diagnoses according to Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia-Present and Lifetime Version (K-SADS-PL) interview were included. Results The total number of admissions were n = 1052 for group A, n = 5792 for group B and n = 5800 for group C. In the group A; mean age of the sample was 11.21 ± 3.77 (%33 girls), while the same findings were 10.42 ± 3.91 (%34 girls) and 10.02 ± 3.87 (%33 girls) in group B and C, respectively. Regarding the diagnostic groups; Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)/Tic Disorder and Intellectual Disability (ID) diagnoses were found to be higher in group A than group B and C (for ASD, 6.4%, 4.3% and 3.6%; for OCD/Tic Disorder 2.9%, 1.8%, 1.7%; for ID, 3.7%, 2.5%, 2.1%, respectively) (p < 0.001). Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) diagnosis was higher in group A than only group B (59.8%, 49.7%, respectively) (p < 0.001). Depression was higher in group A than only group C (4.1%, 2.2%, respectively) (p < 0.001). Conduct Disorder (CD) diagnosis was lower in group A than only group B (3.6%, 6.4%, respectively) (p < 0.005). The diagnoses of Adjustment Disorder (AD) and others (psychiatric problems apart from the aforementioned diagnoses) were lower in group A than group B and C (for AD, 0.7%, 3.1%, 3.4%; for others 3.3%, 12.6%, 9.6%, respectively) (p < 0.001). Discussion Child psychiatry diagnosis rates, and related healthcare needs, were found to change significantly during the inital phase of the pandemic period. Children and adolescents with neurodevelopmental disorders appear to be more affected than other diagnostic groups.