Mental health presentations to Christchurch Hospital Emergency Department during COVID ‐19 lockdown

Objective To describe mental health presentations to a tertiary ED in New Zealand during a national COVID‐19 lockdown. Methods A retrospective, comparative cohort study in Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand. Results There was a 3510 (37%)‐patient decrease in all presentations to Christchurch Hospital ED during the 5‐week COVID‐19 lockdown period from 26 March 2020 to 28 April 2020, compared to a 111 (1.2%)‐patient decrease in the same time period in the previous year ( P < 0.00001). There is usually a seasonal reduction in mental health attendances at this time of year compared to the weeks before. In 2019, there was a 49 (9.8%)‐patient reduction in mental health presentations, whereas in 2020 there was a 193 (34%)‐patient reduction ( P < 0.001). In 2020, the proportion of mental health attendances compared to all ED attendances during the 5‐week lockdown period was similar to the 5‐week pre‐lockdown period (564/9460 vs 371/5950, P = 0.48). The proportion of mental health patients presenting due to overdose increased by 6.5% (158/564 vs 128/371, P = 0.035); those due to self‐harm increased by 3.5% (35/564 vs 36/371, P = 0.049). The proportion of mental health presentations due to anxiety, depression and other non‐self‐harm/overdose complaints decreased by 10% (371/564 vs 207/371, P = 0.002). The proportion of overdoses of paracetamol and ibuprofen increased by 13.4% during lockdown (22/158 vs 35/128, P = 0.005). Conclusions During the COVID‐19 lockdown, both overall ED presentations as well as mental health‐related presentations decreased. There was a relative increase in overdoses and self‐harm, particularly involving paracetamol and ibuprofen.