[Prevalence of mental disorders at emergency service]

Aiming to know the frequency of mental disorders among patients consulting a general hospital emergency ward, 2834 medical records of such patients were retrospectively reviewed. 8.4% of consultations were due to mental disorders. Sixty four percent of patients consulting for mental disorders were women. Anxiety disorders comprised 57.6% of consultations due to mental disorders and intoxications 7.6%. Eighty percent of the latter were consequence of suicidal attempts, being the most common method the use of benzodiazepines. A low percent of these patients were referred to psychiatry. The low frequency of psychiatric referrals and the importance of psychiatric advice in emergency rooms is discussed.