A multicenter study of short-term changes in mental health emergency services use during lockdown in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown measures have led to increasing mental health concerns in the general population. We aimed to assess the short-term impact of the pandemic lockdown on mental health emergency services use in the Kitchener-Waterloo region of Ontario, Canada.

Methods

We conducted an observational study during the 6-month period between March 5 and September 5, 2020 using National Ambulatory Care Reporting System metadata from mental health visits to three regional Emergency Departments (ED); mental health and substance related police calls; and calls to a regional mental health crisis telephone line, comparing volumes during the pandemic lockdown with the same period in 2019. Quasi-Poisson regressions were used to determine significant d

SUBMITTER: Dainton C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8505015 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature