PROFILE OF HOSPITAL ADMISSIONS FOR MENTAL AND BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS IN BRAZIL, 2020

Abstract

Introduction: The transition from the hospital-based to the community-based model of care for people with mental and behavioral disorders (MBD) is still underway in Brazil. Following the organization of the Psychosocial Care Network (RAPS), it is important to understand the profile of cases that still require hospitalization, even after the expansion of community-based services. Objective: To describe the profile of hospitalizations for MBD in Brazil in 2020. Method: Cross-sectional study of hospitalizations for MBD in Brazil in 2020, extracted from the Hospital Information System of the Unified Health System (SIH/SUS), with a primary diagnosis from Chapter V of the ICD-10. Categorical variables were presented as simple and relative frequencies, with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). Hospitalization rates were standardized by the direct method by age, using the total Brazilian population in 2020 as the standard, according to the 2010 Census projection. Reporting followed the STROBE recommendations. Results: In 2020, 10,668,585 hospitalizations were recorded in the SIH/SUS, of which 301,892 (2.8%) were caused by MBD. Regarding the groups of causes, hospitalizations for schizophrenia, schizotypal disorders and delusional disorders stood out, accounting for 37.3% of total hospitalizations. Conclusion: The highest number of hospitalizations for MBD in 2020 occurred among adult males, predominantly due to schizophrenia, schizotypal disorders and delusional disorders, with most patients residing in the South and Southeast regions. The findings should be interpreted in light of the study limitations — restriction to SUS-funded admissions, incompleteness of the race/skin color field, and the overlap of the study period with the first year of the covid-19 pandemic — which reinforces the need to expand research on this topic, including data from the private sector.