Summary

Week 08 (February 22–28, 2021).

Data on emergency department visits from the Oscour® network

• Among adults aged 15 and older, visits for suicide attempts, anxiety disorders, and mood disorders remain at levels comparable to or even lower than those of the past two years.

• Among children under 15, following a peak in Week 5, visits due to suicide attempts have declined for the third consecutive week: 119 visits in Week 8 (vs. 134 in Week 7 and 167 in Week 6), representing a 11% decrease compared to Week 7. The observed level remains slightly higher than in previous years: 119 in S08-2021 vs. 115 in S08-2020 and 91 in S08-2019.

Also noteworthy is the decline in visits for mood disorders (including depressive disorders): 93 visits, a 39% decrease compared to S07 (153 visits in S07). This decline is observed every year during school vacations. The current level remains between 1.5 and 2 times higher than in previous years (60 and 47 visits in S08 of 2020 and 2019, respectively).

Medical procedure data from SOS Médecins

• Medical procedures for anxiety were slightly up across all age groups in S08 (+10%, or +117 procedures across all ages). They nevertheless remained stable over the past few weeks and at a higher level than those observed over the past two years.

• Procedures for depressive disorders remained stable at a level slightly higher than in the previous two years among people under 45. In contrast, an increase was observed in S08 among adults aged 45–64 (83 procedures, or +30% compared to S07) and, for the third consecutive week, among those aged 65 and older: 65 procedures in S08 (vs. 59 in S07 and 56 in S06), representing an 11% increase compared to S07. The levels reached were higher than those of the past two years but remained within the fluctuation ranges observed in recent weeks.

• Procedures for behavioral disorders remained stable over the past few weeks and at levels comparable to the past two years across all age groups, except among people aged 65 and older, among whom they increased in S08 (50 procedures, a 52% increase compared to S07). The level reached was more than twice that of the past two years but remained within the range of fluctuations observed in recent weeks.

No notable changes were observed in the other mental health indicators under surveillance.