Clinical and epidemiological profile of patients with mental disorders in a specialized outpatient clinic and its role in the psychosocial care network

Gláucio Silva Camargos; Mateus Afrânio Von Ancken Garcia; Carolina Andreazza de Almeida; Angélica Marta Lopes; Fábio Aparecido Borghi; Gerardo Maria de Araújo Filho; Luíz Carlos de Mattos; Cinara Cássia Brandão

doi:10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1274192

Clinical and epidemiological profile of patients with mental disorders in a specialized outpatient clinic and its role in the psychosocial care network

Front Psychiatry. 2024 Jan 24:15:1274192. doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1274192. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Gláucio Silva Camargos¹, Mateus Afrânio Von Ancken Garcia¹, Carolina Andreazza de Almeida¹, Angélica Marta Lopes¹, Fábio Aparecido Borghi², Gerardo Maria de Araújo Filho^{1

2}, Luíz Carlos de Mattos¹, Cinara Cássia Brandão¹

Affiliations

¹ Faculdade de Medicina de São José do Rio Preto - FAMERP, São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.
² Hospital de Base de São José do Rio Preto, São Paulo, Brazil.

Abstract

Introduction: Mental health disorders (MHDs) are responsible for much impairment of quality of life in Brazil and worldwide. Early diagnosis and effective treatment strategies are required due to the heterogeneous symptoms and multifactorial etiology.

Methods: A descriptive retrospective observational study was performed aiming to characterize the clinical and psychiatric profiles of patients with MHD attending a Brazilian public tertiary psychiatric outpatient clinic, which is a reference health service for more than 2 million inhabitants. Predominant clinical and sociodemographic aspects of patients were evaluated between March 2019 and March 2021.

Results: A total of 8,384 appointments were analyzed. The majority of patients were female, and the mean age was 45 years old. Generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) was the most common MHD. The prevailing symptoms were sadness, anxiety, and irritability, with the most prescribed medications being selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

Conclusion: The epidemiological characterization of mental disorders in specialized mental health outpatient clinics provides evidence for the establishment of more specific protocols and advocates a dimensional transdiagnostic approach as an aid to public mental health services.

Keywords: generalized anxiety (GAD); mental health disorders; psychosocial care network (PCN); recurrent depresive disorder; specialized outpatient clinic.

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This study was supported by the Brazilian Ministry of Education—Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel Brazil (CAPES PhD Scholarship) to GC. It was supported by the São Paulo Research Foundation research grants (FAPESP #2020/09891–9 to GA; #2021/11939–2 to CA); Brazilian Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation—Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq #303281/2020–0 to CB; PIBC-CNPq to MG). The opinions, assumptions, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of these agencies. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.