Table 3.

Studies of Inpatient Admissions in Italy during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Authors, Ref	Units Included in the Study	Catchment Areas (Localization, Population Served)	Methods	Main Findings
Boldrini et al22	12 GHPW	Northern Italy (3.7 million inhabitants)	Comparison of admission across pre-lockdown (PL) periods (March–June 2018; March–June 2019), lockdown (LD) period (March–April 2020) Post-lockdown (PsL) period (May–June 2020)	Decrease of admissions (−41%) during the LD vs PL periods No significant changes in PsL compared to LD Significant decrease in admissions among the elderly (/>65 yrs) during LD (−40%) and PsL (−28%) Increase of long-stay admissions (>14 days) during LD (+63%) and decrease during PsL (−39%) Increase of suicidal ideation (+35%) in the PsL compared to PL periods
Clerici et al23	7 GHPW	Lombardy Region (1.4 million inhabitants)	Comparison of admissions over the 40-day period post COVID-19 outbreak (PsO) (21 February–31 March 2020) and the 40-day pre-Outbreak (PrO) period compared to the same time periods in 2019	Decrease in admissions in PsO (−25.7%) vs PrO and (−31.3%) compared to 2019 Significant Decrease (P < .001) only for voluntary admissions Significant (P < .001) decrease (−55%) only for affective disorders
Castelpietro et al24	3 GHPW	Friuli Venezia Giulia Region, 1.2 million inhabitants	Prevalence, incidence, and hospitalization rates during the first four months of 2020, compared to the same period in 2019	Decrease in Voluntary admission rates from 7.53 to 5.98 per 100 000 inhabitants in 2019 and from 6.27 to 3.28 hospitalizations per 100 000 inhabitants in 2020 Compulsory admission rates slightly increased during the first four months of 2019 and 2020, but this rise was not significant