Psychiatric emergency units in Brazil: a cross-sectional study

This study aimed to identify the infrastructure (e.g., availability, resources, and staff), basic metrics, and problems (e.g., network, overcrowding, resources, and infrastructure) of the psychiatric emergency services in Brazil.

This is a cross-sectional study assessing psychiatric services (n=29) listed by the Brazilian Psychiatric Association in 2019.

Almost all the units reported 24 h/7-day availability having psychiatrists, nurses, and social workers, with 8.8 (SE=2.2) and 2.8 (SE=0.3) consultations and hospitalizations per day, respectively. Separated room for contention was reported by the minority of the services (38%). The most commonly reported problems were insufficient structure for child/adolescent care (83%), increasing patient demand (72%), housing referral for homeless (72%), excessive prescription demand (69%), short-term room overcrowding (59%), court orders for inpatient treatment (59%), lack of vacancies for inpatients hospitalization (59%), and referral to primary care (56%).

Similar to the United States, the Brazilian psychiatric emergency units are decreasing and encompass the shortcomings of the Brazilian mental health care network.