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Objective: The superiority of long-acting injectable antipsychotics (LAIs) versus oral antipsychotics is often emphasized, even in terms of adherence and rehospitalization rates. As such, LAIs are particularly recommended during the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of our research was to determine whether there are differences in the number of rehospitalizations in patients treated for schizophrenia, schizophrenia-like disorders, and delusional states (psychotic disorders) with LAI antispychotics versus oral antispychotics. Method: Subjects with schizophrenia, schizophrenia-like disorders and delusional states participated in our retrospective study. 124 subjects were treated with oral antipsychotics, while 72 received LAIs along with oral antipsychotics. We collected their sociodemographic data and psychiatric history data. Our main outcome measure was the number of rehospitalizations. Results: Statistical analysis showed that the studied groups did not differ according to sociodemographic parameters, except that in the group of patients with LAIs there was a significantly higher percentage of men (65 (52.4) vs 50 (69.4), p=0.029)). Also, the groups do not differ according to the psychiatric history data. There is no difference in the duration of the current hospitalization nor in the composition of the patients, considering the order of the current hospitalization. The difference in the number of rehospitalizations is not significant neither in the first year of follow-up (p=0.144), nor in the second (p=0.142), nor after two years of follow-up (p=0.083). Conclusions: Our research has shown that there is no difference in the number of rehospitalizations in patients with schizophrenia, schizophrenia-like disorders and delusional states, considering whether they take oral antipsychotics or they also take LAIs along with them. We can therefore conclude that it is particularly important to work on improving patient adherence. We must make psychiatrists aware that the pandemic, like other threats, can be our ally in improving adherence ("perceived threat as a health belief").

Od početka COVID-19 pandemije zdravstveni sustavi cijeloga svijeta suočavaju se s mnogobrojnim izazovima. Uz dodatno opterećenje zdravstvenog sustava, izazov je organizacija rada u novim uvjetima. U KBC-u Split, nakon formiranja Respiratornog centra, bilo je potrebno provesti prostornu reorganizaciju čime je naša Klinika ostala uskraćena za jedan Zavod, što znači bitno reduciranje krevetnih kapaciteta. Dio medicinskog osoblja stavljen je na raspolaganje Respiratornom centru i Hitnom infektološkom prijemu, što je rezultiralo povećanim opterećenjem i sagorijevanjem zdravstvenog osoblja. Cjelokupnu situaciju dodatno je opteretila činjenica što su se “nove okolnosti” prolongirale na dvije godine bez vidljivog završetka istih. Navedeno je imalo reperkusije na sužavanje indikacijskog spektra i skraćivanje trajanja hospitalizacije a “spasonosna” je bila kvalitetna suradnja i susretljivost suradnih ustanova PB Rab i PB Ugljan. Uočena je povećana potreba za konzilijarnom službom zbog nove specifične patologije tj. niza neuropsihijatrijskih sindroma koji su se pojavili u COVID-19 pandemiji. Zaključno, smatramo da će naše iskustvo u organizaciji rada Klinike i liječenja nove specifične patologije, kao i općenito iskustva tijekom COVID-19 pandemije, koristiti za poboljšanje efikasnosti organizacije rada, liječenju i praćenju ishoda kao i za pripremu za slične izazove u budućnosti.