Mehmet Necmeddin SUTAŞIR, Mehmet TATLI, Elif MARANGOZ, Kenan Ahmet TÜRKDOĞAN
Journal of Academic Research in Medicine - 2026;16(2):70-78
Objective: To evaluate changes in the volume, demographic characteristics, diagnostic distribution, and clinical severity of prehospital psychiatric emergency presentations in İstanbul during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic compared with a pre-pandemic reference period. Methods: This retrospective observational time-period comparison study analyzed all psychiatric emergency encounters recorded in the emergency health events system between September 2018 and September 2021. Two equivalent 18-month intervals were compared: pre-pandemic (September 2018-March 2020) and pandemic (March 11, 2020-September 11, 2021). Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, and relative percentage change analyses were performed. Results: Among 91,803 eligible encounters, pandemic-period presentations increased by 18.7% compared with the pre-pandemic period. Male presentations rose by 41.6%, whereas pediatric encounters declined by 30.2%. Alcohol-related diagnoses demonstrated the most pronounced increase. Higher-acuity triage allocations became more frequent, and forensic case designations increased during the pandemic period. Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with an increased number of psychiatric emergency encounters, shifts in demographic patterns, and greater clinical severity among presentations. These findings highlight the need for strengthened emergency psychiatric care capacity and improved access to early mental health interventions during large-scale public health crises.
