Seasonal variations in psychiatric admissions to hospital.

Abstract

The objective of this study was to identify seasonal variations in mental health–related hospitalizations among children, adolescents, and adults using administrative health data. Hospital admission records from January 2004 to March, 2014 were sourced from the New Brunswick Discharge Abstract Database. Seasonality was measured using a cosinor model to estimate the phase, amplitude, and peak of seasonal variations in psychiatric admissions over the 12-month period from January through December. A general linear model using a Poisson distribution was used to calculate rate ratios that measured the significance of monthly variations in psychiatric admissions. We adjusted for the average number of days per month and provincial population counts using offsets in both models. Between 2004 and 2014, there were 57,730 mental health–related hospital admissions by 41,690 patients. Psychiatric admissions by children and adolescents (aged 3–19 years) increased from 44 admissions per 100,000 in 2004 to 51 admissions per 100,000 in 2014. Rates of psychiatric admissions among children, adolescents, and adults exhibited seasonality confirmed through the detection of a statistically significant sinusoidal pattern (p < .025). The highest rates of child and adolescent admissions were in February (phase = 2, amplitude = 4.4), whereas adult admissions to the hospital peaked in early May (phase = 5.3, amplitude = 9.7). These findings lend support to existing efforts to identify the complex array of individual, family, community, and environmental factors that influence the likelihood of acute care utilization for management of psychiatric disorders.

Adolescents hospitalized in an acute psychiatric ward: a retrospective comparison between the pre-Covid-19 and pandemic periods

“…The seasonal pattern of adolescent hospitalizations was similar to that found in a Norwegian study, which reported a seasonal reduction of access to services in summer and an opposite increase in winter [33]. The presence of a seasonal pattern in the trend of hospitalizations for psychiatric disorders was already reported in a Canadian study, with the peak of hospitalizations mainly occurring in February for adolescents and in May for adults [34]. The seasonal trend of adolescent hospitalizations could be linked to stressful factors during the school period.…”

The association between academic pressure and adolescent mental health problems: A systematic review

“…We found three prospective cohort studies, which measured academic pressure at baseline and mental health at follow-up (follow-up ranged from one to five years) (Fu et al, 2022; Kaman et al, 2021; Torsheim et al, 2003). A further prospective cohort study investigated how mental health outcomes differed according to proximity to examinations (Locker and Cropley, 2004) We found nine longitudinal studies that used a time series design, where data were collected from mental health services or administrative records, to assess associations between mental health service use or outcomes and timing within the year (Blackburn et al, 2021; Carbone et al, 2019; Hansen and Lang, 2011; Hawton et al, 2003; Lahti et al, 2007; Matsubayashi et al, 2016; McCleary et al, 1991; Slaunwhite et al, 2019; Spiller et al, 2020). Sample sizes were generally large, with 34 studies containing over 1,000 participants.…”

“…In a study of Canadian adolescents, mental health-related hospital admissions were found to be highest from January to April, and in October and November and lowest during periods of school closure in July, August and December (Slaunwhite et al, 2019). In a study of stress-related emergency hospital admissions in England, admissions were highest for adolescents during term-time and lowest during school holidays (Blackburn et al, 2021).…”