INTRODUCTION: After the deinstitutionalization of psychiatry, substitute services have become the main resource for people in need of mental health care. Thus, categorizing the clients of such services is of major importance. OBJECTIVE: The goal of this study is to outline an epidemiological profile of the population of users of a psychosocial attention center in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. RESULTS: The most prevalent diagnostic categories were mood disorders, stress-related neurotic disorders and somatoform disorders. There is a low compliance to treatment prescriptions and a low rate of medical visits for each patient. The most relevant source of referral is the spontaneous demand by clients, and psychiatry is the service with the highest demand. FINDINGS: Operational changes were shown to be required, such as the creation of therapy groups and of a standard protocol to be followed by caregivers, the reassignment of psychiatric patients, and the conduction of further research. The replication of this study may be useful as well.
Mental health; epidemiology; diagnostic categories
