Table 1.
Most relevant results from the second stage (February/March 2021) of the ESCAP CovCAP survey
| April–May 2020a | February–March 2021 | |
|---|---|---|
| Screening for COVID-19 in your CAP service | ||
|
How rapidly can you obtain a COVID-19 test result for an inpatient? (n = 61 in April–May 2020; n = 56 in February–March 2021; n [%]) |
||
| We have no experience, no inpatient has been tested by us or upon our request | 7 (11.5) | 1 (1.8) |
| Within a few hours | – | 31 (55.4) |
| Within 24 h | 37 (60.7) | 21 (37.5) |
| 24–48 h | 14 (23) | 3 (5.4) |
| 48–72 h | 2 (3.3) | 0 |
| 72 h | 1 (1.6) | 0 |
| Psychopathology in your CAP service | ||
| How do you perceive the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on school dropout (interruption of schooling, independently of lockdown or school closure) of children and adolescents in your region? (n = 64; n [%]) | ||
| Negligible | – | 2 (3.1) |
| Low | – | 10 (15.6) |
| Medium | – | 16 (25.0) |
| Strong | – | 29 (45.3) |
| Extreme | – | 7 (10.9) |
| Currently, and in comparison with early 2020, prior to the beginning of the pandemic, are you seeing changes in the number of referrals or requests for assessments? (n = 64 in April–May 2020; n = 64 in February–March 2021; n [%]) | ||
| No | 17 (26.6) | 5 (7.8) |
| Yes, a decline | 39 (60.9) | 1 (1.6) |
| Yes, an increase | 8 (12.5) | 58 (90.6) |
| Has a patient been treated in your services whose mental symptoms seemingly directly resulted from a COVID-19 infection (post-infectious mental disorder)? (n = 64; n [%]) | ||
| I am not aware of a single patient | – | 56 (87.5) |
| Yes, a single case | – | 5 (7.9) |
| Yes, several cases | – | 3 (4.7) |
| Treatment delivery in your CAP service | ||
| Are your physicians/psychologists using telemedicine to reduce the number of personal contacts with patients and family members (n = 60 in April–May 2020; n = 64 in February–March 2021; n [%]) | ||
| Yes | 57 (95) | 58 (90.6) |
| No | 3 (5) | 6 (9.4) |
| Are you using guidelines for telemedicine? (n = 60 in April–May 2020; n = 62 in February–March 2021; n [%]) | ||
| Yes | 21 (35) | 25 (40.3) |
| No | 39 (65) | 37 (59.7) |
| Have you established a specific procedure (e.g., videoconferences) to support bereaved children to deal with COVID-19-related grief or trauma? (n = 61 in April–May 2020; n = 64 in February–March 2021; n [%]) | ||
| Yes | 10 (16.4) | 13 (20.3) |
| No | 51 (83.6) | 51 (79.7) |
| Provisions of your CAP service | ||
| How are the currently imposed regulatory measures affecting your clinical services? (more than one may apply) (n = 56; n [%]) | ||
| Closure of day-care units | – | 8 (14.3) |
| Restriction/reduction of the number of day-care patients | – | 22 (39.3) |
| Closure of specific inpatient wards/units | – | 6 (10.7) |
| Restriction/reduction of the number of inpatients | – | 22 (39.3) |
| Closure of outpatient units (e.g., for medically relevant cases or emergencies only) | – | 5 (8.9) |
| Restricted access to outpatient units (e.g., for medically relevant cases or emergencies only) | – | 22 (39.3) |
| To what extent is the pandemic currently affecting the provisions of services to patients and their families? (n = 59 in April–May 2020; n = 63 in February–March 2021; n [%]) | ||
| Not at all | 2 (3.3) | 3 (4.8) |
| To a minor degree only | 10 (16.9) | 37 (58.7) |
| To a major degree | 40 (67.8) | 22 (34.9) |
| Extremely | 7(11.9) | 1 (1.6) |
| Since the 1st of January 2021, has any part of your service been closed or transformed for emergency COVID-19 use? (n = 59 in April–May 2020; n = 63 in February–March 2021; n [%]) | b | |
| Yes | 35(59.3) | 13(20.6) |
| No | 24(40.7) | 50(79.4) |
| If you can, please indicate the average daily number of inpatients (beds) (pertains to estimated average number of outpatients per day in 2019 irrespective of initial referrals or recontacts) at your hospital | See Changes inpatientsc | – |
| Please provide today's numbers for inpatients (number of beds occupied). If you are filling the questionnaire during the weekend, estimate the average occupancy during the last week (n = 42 in April-Mai 2020) | See Changes inpatientsc | – |
| If you can, please indicate the average daily number of inpatients (beds) (pertains to estimated average number of inpatients per day in 2019 irrespective of initial referrals or recontacts) at your hospital | – | See Changes inpatientsc |
| Please provide the daily average number of inpatients (number of beds occupied each day on average) during the previous week (n = 43 in February–March 2021) | – | See Changes inpatientsc |
| Changes inpatientsc (n [%]) | ||
| No | 6 (14.3) | 18 (41.9) |
| Decrease | 33 (78.6) | 15 (34.9) |
| Increase | 3 (7.1) | 10 (23.3) |
| If you can, please indicate the average daily number of outpatients (pertains to estimated average number of outpatients per day in 2019 irrespective of initial referrals or recontacts) at your hospital | See Changes outpatientsc | |
| Please provide today's numbers for outpatients (outpatient visits). If you are filling the questionnaire during the weekend, estimate the average occupancy during the last week (n = 46 in April-Mai 2020) | See Changes outpatientsc | |
| If you can, please indicate the average daily number of outpatients (pertains to estimated average number of outpatients per day in 2019 irrespective of initial referrals or recontacts) at your hospital | See Changes outpatientsc | |
| Please provide the daily average number of outpatients (outpatients visits each day on average) during the previous week (n = 48 in February–March 2021) | See Changes outpatientsc | |
| Changes outpatientsc (n [%]) | ||
| No | 3 (7.3) | 17 (35.4) |
| Decrease | 34 (82.9) | 21 (43.8) |
| Increase | 4 (9.8) | 10 (20.8) |
| What are your current major concerns related to the pandemic with regard to service provisions? (more than one answer may apply) (n = 63; n [%]) | ||
| We are not sufficiently in contact with patients and families in need | – | 38 (60.3) |
| We are not able to maintain specific therapeutic groups for distinct groups of patients | – | 44 (69.8) |
| Members of my team are not as attentive as usual to their patient | – | 5 (7.9) |
| Many employees are absent | – | 21 (33.3) |
| Meetings to manage the crisis prevent me from doing my work | – | 16 (25.4) |
| We are running a deficit, because we treat too few patients | – | 9 (14.3) |
| Other | – | 13 (20.6) |
| Your CAP team | ||
| How well was your team mentally equipped to handle COVID-19-positive patients during the last 3 months? (n = 57 in April–May 2020; n = 59 in February–March 2021; mean ± SD) | 60.4 ± 11.7 | 63.47 ± 19.99 |
| How well was the infrastructure of your service equipped to handle COVID-19 positive patients during the last 3 months? (n = 56 in April–May 2020; n = 58 in February–March 2021; mean ± SD) | 42.4 ± 35.9 | 57.34 ± 24.06 |
| How do you perceive the level of COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among your team? (n = 61; n [%]) | ||
| High | – | 45 (73.8) |
| Medium | – | 14 (23) |
| Low | – | 2 (3.3) |
| Which proportion of your team members have already received a first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine? (n = 61; n [%]) | ||
| 0% | – | 2 (3.3) |
| 0.1–4.9% | – | 4 (6.6) |
| 5–9.9% | – | 2 (3.3) |
| 10–24.9% | – | 8 (13.1) |
| 25–49.9% | – | 3 (4.9) |
| 50–74.9% | – | 14 (23) |
| > 75% | – | 28 (45.9) |
| After the COVID-19 crisis | ||
| What are your major concerns related to CAP for when the pandemic is over? (more than one answer may apply) (n = 63; n [%]) | ||
| Reduced financial resources for CAP services | – | 29 (48) |
| Difficulties in managing the increased numbers of patients | – | 50 (83) |
| Difficulties in managing families in situation of high psychosocial precariousness | – | 50 (83) |
| Difficulties in managing post-infection symptoms affecting mental health | – | 9 (15) |
| Difficulties in reopening some units in CAP services | – | 10 (17) |
| Other | – | 4 (7) |
CAP child and adolescent psychiatry, SD = standard deviation
aSome questions were modified, removed or added in the second questionnaire of the CovCAP study. In the "April-May 2020" column, only answers to questions that were strictly identical between the two stages of the study are presented
bFor the first stage of the CovCAP study (April/May 2020), the title of the question was: “Has any part of your service been closed or transformed for emergency COVID-19 use?”
cData were recoded to measure for each respondent longitudinal changes (from the pre-pandemic period) at each time point