In-patient psychiatry management of COVID-19: rates of asymptomatic infection and on-unit transmission
BackgroundNew York City's first case of SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease 2019 (COVID-19) was identified on 1 March 2020, prompting rapid restructuring of hospital-based services to accommodate the increasing numbers of medical admissions. Non-essential services were eliminated b...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Cambridge University Press
2020-09-01
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| Series: | BJPsych Open |
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| Online Access: | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472420000861/type/journal_article |
| _version_ | 1811157043086622720 |
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| author | Emily Zhang Elizabeth LeQuesne Katherine Fichtel David Ginsberg W. Gordon Frankle |
| author_facet | Emily Zhang Elizabeth LeQuesne Katherine Fichtel David Ginsberg W. Gordon Frankle |
| author_sort | Emily Zhang |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | BackgroundNew York City's first case of SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease 2019 (COVID-19) was identified on 1 March 2020, prompting rapid restructuring of hospital-based services to accommodate the increasing numbers of medical admissions. Non-essential services were eliminated but in-patient treatment of psychiatric illnesses was necessarily maintained.AimsTo detail the response of the NYU Langone Health in-patient psychiatric services to the COVID-19 outbreak from 1 March to 1 May 2020.MethodProcess improvement/quality improvement study.ResultsOver this time period, our two in-patient psychiatric units (57 total beds) treated 238 patients, including COVID-19-positive and -negative individuals. Testing for COVID-19 was initially limited to symptomatic patients but expanded over the 62-day time frame. In total, 122 SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were performed in 98 patients. We observed an overall rate of COVID-19 infection of 15.6% in the patients who were tested, with an asymptomatic positive rate of 13.7%. Although phased roll-out of testing impaired the ability to fully track on-unit transmission of COVID-19, 3% of cases were clearly identified as results of on-unit transmission.ConclusionsOur experience indicates that, with appropriate precautions, patients in need of in-patient psychiatric admission who have COVID-19 can be safely managed. We provide suggested guidelines for COVID-19 management on in-patient psychiatric units which incorporate our own experiences as well as published recommendations. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:59:35Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-d4d9177b88414199919b3480d2193c59 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2056-4724 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-10T04:59:35Z |
| publishDate | 2020-09-01 |
| publisher | Cambridge University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BJPsych Open |
| spelling | doaj.art-d4d9177b88414199919b3480d2193c592023-03-09T12:29:04ZengCambridge University PressBJPsych Open2056-47242020-09-01610.1192/bjo.2020.86In-patient psychiatry management of COVID-19: rates of asymptomatic infection and on-unit transmissionEmily Zhang0Elizabeth LeQuesne1Katherine Fichtel2David Ginsberg3W. Gordon Frankle4https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0356-4197NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USADepartment of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, USADepartment of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, USADepartment of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, USADepartment of Psychiatry, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, and NYU Langone Health, New York, New York, USABackgroundNew York City's first case of SARS-associated coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) disease 2019 (COVID-19) was identified on 1 March 2020, prompting rapid restructuring of hospital-based services to accommodate the increasing numbers of medical admissions. Non-essential services were eliminated but in-patient treatment of psychiatric illnesses was necessarily maintained.AimsTo detail the response of the NYU Langone Health in-patient psychiatric services to the COVID-19 outbreak from 1 March to 1 May 2020.MethodProcess improvement/quality improvement study.ResultsOver this time period, our two in-patient psychiatric units (57 total beds) treated 238 patients, including COVID-19-positive and -negative individuals. Testing for COVID-19 was initially limited to symptomatic patients but expanded over the 62-day time frame. In total, 122 SARS-CoV-2 polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests were performed in 98 patients. We observed an overall rate of COVID-19 infection of 15.6% in the patients who were tested, with an asymptomatic positive rate of 13.7%. Although phased roll-out of testing impaired the ability to fully track on-unit transmission of COVID-19, 3% of cases were clearly identified as results of on-unit transmission.ConclusionsOur experience indicates that, with appropriate precautions, patients in need of in-patient psychiatric admission who have COVID-19 can be safely managed. We provide suggested guidelines for COVID-19 management on in-patient psychiatric units which incorporate our own experiences as well as published recommendations.https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472420000861/type/journal_articleIn-patient treatmentphenomenologyrisk assessmentdisease transmissionCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Emily Zhang Elizabeth LeQuesne Katherine Fichtel David Ginsberg W. Gordon Frankle In-patient psychiatry management of COVID-19: rates of asymptomatic infection and on-unit transmission BJPsych Open In-patient treatment phenomenology risk assessment disease transmission COVID-19 |
| title | In-patient psychiatry management of COVID-19: rates of asymptomatic infection and on-unit transmission |
| title_full | In-patient psychiatry management of COVID-19: rates of asymptomatic infection and on-unit transmission |
| title_fullStr | In-patient psychiatry management of COVID-19: rates of asymptomatic infection and on-unit transmission |
| title_full_unstemmed | In-patient psychiatry management of COVID-19: rates of asymptomatic infection and on-unit transmission |
| title_short | In-patient psychiatry management of COVID-19: rates of asymptomatic infection and on-unit transmission |
| title_sort | in patient psychiatry management of covid 19 rates of asymptomatic infection and on unit transmission |
| topic | In-patient treatment phenomenology risk assessment disease transmission COVID-19 |
| url | https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S2056472420000861/type/journal_article |
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