Leitos hospitalares e reforma psiquiátrica no Brasil

Expert Arguments for Trends of Psychiatric Bed Numbers: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Data

Introduction: Mental health policies have encouraged removals of psychiatric beds in many countries. It is under debate whether to continue those trends. We conducted a systematic review of expert arguments for trends of psychiatric bed numbers. Methods: We searched seven electronic databases and screened 15,479 papers to identify expert opinions, arguments and recommendations for trends of psychiatric bed numbers, published until December 2020. Data were synthesized using thematic analysis and classified into arguments to maintain or increase numbers and to reduce numbers. Results: One hundred six publications from 25 countries were included. The most common themes arguing for reductions of psychiatric bed numbers were inadequate use of inpatient care, better integration of care and better use of community care. Arguments to maintain or increase bed numbers included high demand of psychiatric beds, high occupancy rates, increasing admission rates, criminalization of mentally ill, lack of community care and inadequately short length of stay. Cost effectiveness and quality of care were used as arguments for increase or decrease. Conclusions: The expert arguments presented here may guide and focus future debate on the required psychiatric bed numbers. The recommendations may help policymakers to define targets for psychiatric bed numbers. Arguments need careful local evaluation, especially when supporting opposite directions of trends in different contexts.

Community-based mental health services in Brazil

Introduction

The shift from the hospital-based model of care to community-based mental health services began three decades ago and is still an ongoing process in Brazil.

Objectives

To update data on the development of the community mental health services network in Brazil in relation to service availability and structure, manpower, pattern of service use, financing, epidemiological studies and the burden of mental disorders, research and national mental health policy.

Methods

Searches were constructed to collect data on indexed databases (Medline, Scielo), as well as governmental,NGOs and medical council sources, reports and the grey literature up until 30th March, 2019.

Results

Community mental health services are unevenly distributed in the country. Brazil leads the world in terms of the prevalence of anxiety disorders, ranking fifth for depression prevalence. Violence and suicide rates are two growing factors which exacerbate the prevalence of mental disorders prevalence. An increased reduction of the number of psychiatric beds in the country, in addition to the unbalanced growth of services in the community, has resulted in treatment gaps and the underutilization of services and barriers to treating people with the most severe psychosis. Investment in mental healthcare is still scarce. However, mental health funding is not addressed according to the population´s needs and scientific evidence, resulting in a waste of resources and inefficiency. Programmes and service interruptions are common according to each government mandate.

Conclusion

Successive changes in ideological perspectives have led to the introduction of policies which have caused fragmentation in the mental health system and services. A lack of evaluation and transparency of services and costs are the main barriers to integrating multiple services and planning long-term developmental phases.

Call me for a conversation and I will enjoy it: analysis of a clinical-institutional experience with the nursing staff of a psychiatric hospital

The teams that work in psychiatric wards are direct heirs of a practice marked by the institutionalizing discourse but need to dialogue with the clinic and care advocated by the Psychiatric Reform. This article aims to analyze how mental health work occurs and what are the relationships between the way of working and the health of nursing workers of a university psychiatric hospital. The theoretical reference used was based on the concepts of activity and self body by Schwartz and the dimension of health established by Canguilhem, understanding that health work is also a work of creation, of production of knowledge and use of their capacities and tacit knowledge. BasedonConversations about Work and Health carried out with the nursing teams of the Institute of Psychiatry of Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (IPUB/UFRJ), we address specific topicsrelated to nursing in mental health. We conclude that there is a very heterogeneous panel of speeches, which express the diversity of ways of thinking and acting in nursing work, so that each worker brings to the scene what they believe to be the best for the patient and it is in the name of that care ethicsthat the most dramatic issues revolvewithin a psychiatric ward.

[The evolution of the profile of psychiatric admissions via the Unified Health System in Minas Gerais, Brazil, 2001-2013]

The scope of this article is to analyze the evolution of the profile of psychiatric admissions via the Unified Health System in psychiatric hospitals of the State of Minas Gerais, Brazil, between 2001 and 2013. Data were obtained from the Information Technology Department of the Unified Health System. The analyses of trends were conducted by regression procedures, in which the independent variable was the year, and the dependent variables were the patients (sex, age, diagnosis) and admission characteristics (city, hospital administrative status, length of internment). A total of 202,188 admissions to 25 hospitals were appraised. There were significant changes in the diagnostic profiles of psychiatric admissions during the period under scrutiny, notably an increase in the proportion of admissions for substance abuse-related disorders and a reduction for psychotic disorders. This study is in tune with the context of the reform of mental healthcare in Minas Gerais, providing relevant input to support the mental health policies towards universalization, humanization and the overcoming of inequalities in access to health services.

Readmission in psychiatry inpatients within a year of discharge: The role of symptoms at discharge and post-discharge care in a Brazilian sample

INTRODUCTION

Readmission into inpatient psychiatric beds is a useful outcome for patients, care providers, and policymakers. This study aims to investigate the role of level of symptoms at discharge and type of post-discharge care in determining readmissions after a year before a psychiatric admission.

METHODS

We performed a prospective and observational study in a general hospital psychiatric facility. Patients were assessed at admission, discharge, and one year after discharge. We used a multivariable logistic regression to determine predictors of readmission.

RESULTS

In total, 488 patients were included at admission, and 401 (82,17%) were accessed in the follow-up period. Psychiatric readmissions occurred in 29.17% of the followed patients. The number of previous admissions represents a 38% higher chance of being readmitted (OR 1.38; CI 1.16-1.60). For patients admitted in a depressive episode, not being in remission at discharge increases 140% the chance to be readmitted (OR 2.40; CI 1.14-5.07) as well as the follow-up at primary (OR 5.27; CI 1.06-26.15). For those with Schizophrenia and related disorders, higher scores in BPRS at discharge increases the chance to be readmitted (OR 1.28, CI 1.11-1.48).

CONCLUSION

Level of symptoms at discharge was related to higher chance to be readmitted in patients admitted in a depressive episode and those with schizophrenia and related disorders. Findings of the type of care raise the need for further investigation. Also, this finding confirms the importance of the history of previous admissions in predicting future admissions.

STATUS OF DISINVESTMENT INITIATIVES IN LATIN AMERICA: RESULTS FROM A SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW AND A QUESTIONNAIRE

Objectives: Disinvestment of existing healthcare technologies that deliver low or no health benefit for their cost can be used as a tool to improve access to effective technologies, while ensuring the long-term sustainability of healthcare systems. The objective of this research was to identify disinvestment initiatives in Latin American countries (LAC).

Methods: First, a systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted. In February 2015, MEDLINE, MEDLINE In-Process, EMBASE, The Cochrane Library, and LILACS were searched for relevant journal articles, including terms related to “disinvestment,” “reallocation,” “obsolete technologies,” and “Latin America.” Additionally, a manual search of documents from Latin American health technology assessment agencies was performed. Second, an online questionnaire was sent to experts in LAC to assess whether unpublished real-life disinvestment initiatives exist. Questionnaire results were collected in September 2015.

Results: From the SLR, 350 records were selected for screening following de-duplication and eleven articles fulfilled inclusion criteria. Only two of these reported information on initiatives potentially identifiable as disinvestment-investment activities in Brazil and Peru. Nine respondents completed the questionnaire, and four reported that disinvestment initiatives had been conducted in their respective organizations in Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico. This lack of agreement between the SLR and the questionnaire responses shows that disinvestment initiatives are ongoing, despite being under reported.

Conclusions: Many challenges need to be overcome for a disinvestment initiative to be successful, and sharing particular experiences with the international community would increase the chances of positive outcomes. The present study highlights the need for publication of such experiences in LAC.

Psychiatric hospitalizations in the Rio Grande do Sul State (Brazil) from 2000 to 2011

OBJECTIVE

To examine the variation in the rates of psychiatric hospitalization and the mean hospital stay time in the public health system in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, in the south of Brazil, from 2000 to 2011.

METHODS

This was an ecological study. Data were collected from DATASUS. The rates were obtained from diagnosis of admissions due to psychoactive substance use and to other causes, stratified by the gender of the patients. The data were analyzed using Poisson regression and Spearman correlation coefficient.

RESULTS

Increasing hospitalization rates were observed for women with disorders due to substance use (p < 0.001) and other causes (p < 0.001), and among men with disorders due to the use of alcohol or other drugs (p < 0.001). This elevation of the rates remained statistically significant and inversely correlated to the length of hospital stay (p < 0.001).

DISCUSSION

In a period of expansion of the local care networks for mental health, an increase in the occupancy of psychiatric beds in the state was noticed, with shorter length of stay and greater diversity of gender and causes of hospitalization.

Predictors of length of stay in an acute psychiatric inpatient facility in a general hospital: a prospective study

OBJECTIVE

There have been significant reductions in numbers of psychiatric beds and length of stay (LOS) worldwide, making LOS in psychiatric beds an interesting outcome. The objective of this study was to find factors measurable on admission that would predict LOS in the acute psychiatric setting.

METHODS

This was a prospective, observational study.

RESULTS

Overall, 385 subjects were included. The median LOS was 25 days. In the final model, six variables explained 14.6% of the variation in LOS: not having own income, psychiatric admissions in the preceding 2 years, high Clinical Global Impression and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores, diagnosis of schizophrenia, and history of attempted suicide. All variables were associated with longer LOS, apart from history of attempted suicide.

CONCLUSIONS

Identifying patients who will need to stay longer in psychiatric beds remains a challenge. Improving knowledge about determinants of LOS could lead to improvements in the quality of care in hospital psychiatry.

A regionalização da saúde mental e os novos desafios da Reforma Psiquiátrica brasileira

Resumo Novos desafios estão postos à Política Nacional de Saúde Mental no Brasil com o processo de regionalização da Rede de Atenção Psicossocial (RAPS). Trata-se da ampliação do acesso e melhora da qualidade de atenção em saúde mental em todos os níveis e pontos de atenção no âmbito do SUS. Objetiva-se analisar a organização da RAPS a partir da constituição das regiões e Redes de Atenção à Saúde no Brasil, apresentando o mapeamento dos serviços e sua distribuição na rede de serviços. Realizou-se um estudo de corte transversal a partir dos dados recuperados das plataformas CNES, DataSUS e Coordenação Nacional de Saúde Mental. Os resultados indicam o aprofundamento do processo de expansão e regionalização da rede de serviços ao longo desses quinze anos de aprovação da Lei da Reforma Psiquiátrica Brasileira (Lei nº 10.216/2001), apesar dos “vazios assistenciais” em diversos pontos de atenção, o que gera fragilidade na cobertura da rede de serviços.

[The clinical and psychosocial profile of inmates in psychiatric hospitals in the State of Ceará, Brazil]

One of the most vexing problems in the context of psychiatric reform are the inmates of psychiatric hospitals institutionalized for one year or more. The long periods of hospitalization indicate that these inmates have been abandoned, which can aggravate their psychiatric disorders. This article seeks to trace a socio-demographic and clinical profile of the inmates of psychiatric hospitals in the State of Ceará, Brazil. It is a cross-sectional study, based on reviews of medical registers, interviews and application of two scales: the Katz Index and the PANSS. Most of the 39 participants were men, single and of an economically active age. Information on education (69.2%) and religion (66.7%) were not known and for 12.8%, their marital status was unknown. Nearly 75% received no visits from friends or relatives. Two thirds maintained total independence to perform ADLs (Activities of Daily Living). The majority were admitted for primary psychotic disorder (76.8%). These manifested a marked negative syndrome in 96.7% of cases. The study highlights the situation of abandonment and loss of citizenship experienced by chronically institutionalized patients. It is questionable to what extent hospitals are prepared to offer the assistance that this population needs.

Hospitalization due to drug use did not change after a decade of the Psychiatric Reform

OBJECTIVE

To investigate whether the psychiatric hospitalization rates due to use of psychoactive substances and average time of hospitalization suffered any changes after the first decade of effective implementation of the psychiatric reform in Brazil.

METHODS

This article examines the evolution of hospitalizations due to disorders arising from the use of alcohol or other substances in the state of Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil, from 2000 to 2012. This is an ecological, time-series study, which uses data from admissions obtained by the Informatics Service of the Brazilian Unified Health System. Hospitalization rates by 100,000 inhabitants and average time of occupancy of beds were estimated. Coefficients of variation of these rates were estimated by Poisson Regression.

RESULTS

The total and male hospitalization rates did not vary (p = 0.056 and p = 0.244, respectively). We observed an increase of 3.0% for the female sex (p = 0.049). We did not observe any significant variation for occupancy time of beds.

CONCLUSIONS

The deployment of services triggered by the Brazilian psychiatric reform was not accompanied by a reduction of hospitalization rates or mean occupancy time of hospitalized patients during this first decade of implementation of the reform.

Association between duration of untreated bipolar disorder and clinical outcome: data from a Brazilian sample

Objective:

Bipolar disorder (BD) is often left untreated for long periods, and this delay in treatment correlates with unfavorable prognosis. The present study sought to assess the magnitude of duration of untreated bipolar disorder (DUB) in Brazil. We hypothesized that DUB would be longer in Brazil than in developed countries, and would be associated with poor clinical outcomes.

Methods:

One hundred and fifty-two psychiatric outpatients were evaluated for BD diagnosis, demographics, DUB, and clinical outcomes.

Results:

The mean age and mean DUB were, respectively, 38.9±10.8 and 10.4±9.8 years. An extended DUB was associated with early onset of BD (p < 0.001), depression as first mood episode (p = 0.04), and presence of BD in a first-degree relative (p = 0.012). Additionally, a longer DUB was associated with poorer clinical outcomes, such as elevated rates of rapid cycling (p = 0.004) and anxiety disorders (p = 0.016), as well as lower levels of current full remission (p = 0.021).

Conclusion:

As DUB may be a modifiable variable, better medical education regarding mental health, more structured medical services, and population-wide psychoeducation might reduce the time between onset and proper management of BD, thus improving outcome.

Spiritist psychiatric hospitals in Brazil: integration of conventional psychiatric treatment and spiritual complementary therapy

In Brazil, during the XX century, dozens of Spiritist psychiatric hospitals emerged seeking to integrate conventional medical treatment with complementary spiritual therapy. This combined inpatient treatment is largely found in Brazil, where many psychiatric hospitals stem from the Spiritist movement. The present report describes the use of these spiritual practices, their operating structure, health professionals involved, modalities of care, and institutional difficulties in integrating spiritual practices with conventional treatment in six leading Brazilian Spiritist psychiatric hospitals. These hospitals combine conventional psychiatric treatment with voluntary-based spiritual approaches such as laying on of hands ("fluidotherapy"), lectures regarding spiritual and ethical issues, intercessory prayer, spirit release therapy ("disobsession") and "fraternal dialogue". The non-indoctrination and optional nature of these spiritual complementary therapies seem to increase acceptance among patients and their family members. In conclusion, the Spiritist psychiatric hospitals in Brazil have, for more than half a century, provided an integrative approach in the treatment of psychiatric disorders, associating conventional and spiritual treatments, more specifically Spiritist therapy. The lack of standardized treatment protocols and scientific studies remain a barrier to assessing the impact of this integrative approach on patients' mental health, quality of life, adherence, and perceived quality of treatment.