Psychiatric Consultation for COVID-19 Patients

Patients and medical workers in the event of an pandemic infectious disease usually experience extreme fear, which requires quick and immediate management of mental health. In 2015, the risk of post-traumatic stress disorder in isolated MERS patients and medical staff was very high. Even 4 ~ 6 months after the quarantine was over, anxiety was still lingering in 3% percent of patients and anger in 6.4 % of patients. The negative emotions and stress experienced by the medical staff for MERS patients were characterized by such events as mistakes and delays caused by communication problems. Also, people who were not infected with MERS experienced anxiety at 7.6 percent and anger at 16.6 percent during the quarantine period.Therefore, the need for psychological support for infected patients, isolated people, medical staff and the general public had been proposed during these infectious disease fad periods since MERS. Since the recent spread of coronavirus infection-19 (COVID-19) that began in Wuhan, China in December 2019, thousands of confirmed and dozens of deaths have been reported in South Korea and the number is on the rise. Thus, quarantine measures are currently being taken in Korea to reduce and treat the spread of COVID-19. Thus, psychological support and crisis intervention are needed in the early stages of stressful times to reduce anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. In response, Daegu Catholic university hospital psychiatry department conducted active psychiatric counseling for medical patients who are hospitalized in Corona's management hospital for confirmation of coronavirus infection. In this study, the content and results of the psychiatric consultation on patients in Corona Care Ward were verified retroactively, and the effects of COVID-19 patients' emotional state and psychological support and crisis intervention were assessed on their emotional state.

Patients who are admitted to the COVID-19 care unit of the Catholic University of Daegu Hospital are subject to consultation with the psychiatrist. By retrospectively reviewing the medical records of the request and the results of the subjects, We collected Socio-demographic information, medical severity (oxygen saturation, chest x-ray readings, medication being administered), clinical psychological scale (PHQ-9, GAD-7, PC-PTSD-5, AIS, P4, SF-36, SCL-90-R) This study evaluates whether there is a difference in psychological scale according to differences in socio-demographic status and medical severity, and compares psychological psychological measures before and after referral to mental health medicine to evaluate the effectiveness of psychiatric counseling.