N. Arbelo, Spain

Hospital Clinic de Barcelona Psychiatry
Nestor Arbelo earned his medical degree from the University of Las Palmas, Spain, and got one of the 100 best scores on the national medical residency entrance exam (MIR) in 2018. He is actually a third-year psychiatry resident in Hospital Clinic of Barcelona and has recently published two articles as first author in international journals, about COVID-19 inpatients with psychiatric disorders and recommendations from consultation-liaison psychiatry. He has also presented two scientific posters at international conferences and one scientific poster at a national conference. His research focuses on consultation-liaison psychiatry and psychosis.

Presenter of 1 Presentation

 Conference Calendar
Oral Communications (ID 1110) AS07. COVID-19 and related topics

O078 - Psychiatric Clinical Profiles and Pharmacological Interactions in COVID-19 inpatients referred to a Consultation Liaison Psychiatry Unit

Session Name
Oral Communications (ID 1110)
Date
Sat, 10.04.2021
Session Time
07:00 - 21:00
Room
On Demand
Lecture Time
19:24 - 19:36
Presenter

ABSTRACT

Introduction

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) can affect mental health in different ways. There is little research about psychiatric complications in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.

Objectives

The aim of the study was to describe the psychiatric clinical profile and pharmacological interactions in COVID-19 inpatients referred to a Consultation-Liaison Psychiatry (CLP) unit.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional retrospective study, carried out at a tertiary hospital in Spain, in inpatients admitted because of COVID-19 and referred to our CLP Unit from March 17,2020 to April 28,2020. Clinical data were extracted from electronic medical records. The patients were divided in three groups depending on psychiatric diagnosis: delirium, severe mental illness (SMI) and non-severe mental illness (NSMI).

Results

Of 71 patients included (median [ICR] age 64 [54-73] years; 70.4% male), 35.2% had a delirium, 18.3% had a SMI, and 46.5% had a NSMI. Compared to patients with delirium and NSMI, patients with SMI were younger, more likely to be institutionalized and were administered less anti-COVID19 drugs. Mortality was higher among patients with delirium (21.7%) than those with SMI (0%) or NSMI (9.45%). The rate of side effects due to interactions between anti-COVID19 and psychiatric drugs was low, mainly drowsiness (4.3%) and borderline QTc prolongation (1.5%).

Conclusions

Patients affected by SMI were more often undertreated for COVID-19. However, the rate of interactions was very low, and avoidable with a proper evaluation and drug-dose adjustment. Half of the patients with SMI were institutionalized, suggesting that living conditions in residential facilities could make them more vulnerable to infection.

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