Adoption of measures by psychiatric hospitals to prevent SARS-CoV-2

This article analyzes the scientific evidence on the measures adopted by psychiatric hospitals to prevent COVID-19 contamination among hospitalized people. It refers to a literature review in the MEDLINE/PUBMED, Web of Science, and EMBASE databases. There was the incorporation of studies describing measures used to prevent the spread of COVID-19 among patients admitted to psychiatric institutions. The research articles that evaluated patients in partial follow-up at health facilities were excluded. Between 13 selected studies, two thematic categories were established: Measures adopted to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 in the admission of psychiatric patients; Measures adopted to reduce the transmission of COVID-19 during hospitalization of psychiatric patients. There are similarities and differences in the measures adopted by psychiatric hospitals. It was noted that admission and isolation policy for 14 days was a consensus. However, the testing method for screening Sars-CoV-2 differs between the realities. Concerning hospitalization, there is a similarity in the use of technologies in the care of psychiatric patients. In contrast, there is no standardization in the measures taken since, due to their structure; psychiatric hospitals have restrictions on the adoption of distance rules.