[Alcohol-related disorders in a psychiatric emergency service. Ribeirão Preto, Brazil]

This study reports the results of a survey carried out in the psychiatric emergency service of the University Hospital of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil (1988-1990) with the purpose of characterizing psychiatric disorders related to the consumption of alcohol. The sample included data on a total of 1,082 patients diagnosed during this period. A total of 576 cases were diagnosed with "alcohol dependency syndrome", 379 with "alcohol psychosis", and 127 patients with "alcohol without dependency". The majority of patients were male and the age group most affected was 25-44 years for both sexes. The study calls attention for the importance of alcohol abuse as a public health problem.