Introduction: The novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 belongs to the coronavirus family, a group of viruses that can cause upper respiratory infections in humans. Among other symptoms, it can present as an asymptomatic infection or as a more severe disease requiring hospitalization. Neuropsychiatric symptoms have been described in the acute phase of the illness and as long-term repercussions. We describe the characteristics and interventions in those COVID-19 patients referred to our liaison psychiatry service. Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive study. This study was carried out within the Department of Psychiatry of Cruces University Hospital (Basque Country, Spain). Data from each psychiatric consultation within our consultation-liaison service were consecutively obtained for 1 month from March 17 to April 17, 2020. We recruited data regarding clinical and referral characteristics and psychiatric interventions. Results: Of a total of 721 SARS-CoV-2 hospitalizations, 43 (5.6%) patients were referred to our psychiatry liaison service. The median age was 61 years old, and 62.8% were women. The infectious disease department was the most frequent petitioner (37.2%), and the most common reason for referral was patient anxiety (25.6%). A total of 67.4% of patients received psychological counseling and 55.8% received some pharmacological approach, with a median of 3.7 visits/calls per patient. In addition, 20.3% needed a medication switch due to potential interactions between psychotropics and drugs used to treat SARS-CoV-2. Discussion: In our study, up to 5.6% of SARS-CoV-2 hospitalized patients needed a psychiatric evaluation, especially for anxiety and mood symptoms. Psychosocial factors associated with the pandemic, drugs used to treat the infection, or a direct causative effect of the virus may explain our findings.
【저자키워드】 COVID-19, SARS-CoV-2, mental health, psychological counseling, liaison psychiatry, 【초록키워드】 coronavirus, pandemic, Anxiety, Hospitalization, cross-sectional, Infection, Intervention, Symptom, drug, Infectious disease, virus, Symptoms, psychiatry, Characteristics, humans, hospitalizations, Patient, asymptomatic infection, Spain, Psychological, women, medication, university, Interaction, severe disease, COVID-19 patient, Psychiatric, Psychotropics, acute phase, median age, upper respiratory infection, novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, treat, material, Department, counseling, pharmacological, approach, described, carried, recruited, addition, median, hospitalized patient, explain, Psychosocial factor, 【제목키워드】 Referral, description, peak,