The Effects of Temperature on Dynamics of Psychiatric Outpatients

Background: Climate changes affect mental states and alter the risk for psychiatric diseases. Seasonal changes in temperature lead to dynamics in the occurrence of psychiatric conditions and pose challenges in the administration of clinical psychiatry services. Methods: The present study aims to retrospectively analyze outpatient data with weather reports from January 2014 to March 2019 at Shanghai Mental Health Center, one of the largest psychiatric hospitals in the world, in order to provide policy insights into the administration of psychiatric clinics. Results: The results show steady increases in the number of overall patients over the past 5 years with several peaks within each year. Temperature changes and weather information reliably predict the increased number of psychiatric patients. Conclusions: We conclude that mental health hospitals should prepare for patient dynamics based on the weather forecast.