Dropout from treatment for mental disorders in six countries of the Americas: A regional report from the World Mental Health Surveys

•Treatment dropout was 12.2%, ranging from 7.7% in the USA to 24.1% in Peru.•Reasons for dropout were more often attitudinal (79.2%) than structural (30.7%).•Disorder severity was associated with treatment dropout for structural reasons.•Lower income was associated to lower likelihood of dropout due to getting better.•Clinicians should address attitudinal factors that lead to premature termination. To estimate structural and attitudinal reasons for premature discontinuation of mental health treatment, socio-demographic and clinical correlates of treatment dropout due to these reasons, and to test country differences from the overall effect across the region of the Americas. World Health Organization-World Mental Health (WMH) surveys were carried out in six countries in the Americas: Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and USA. Among the 1991 participants who met diagnostic criteria (measured with the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (WMHCIDI)) for a mental disorder and were in treatment in the prior 12-months, the 236 (12.2%) who dropped out of treatment before the professional recommended were included. In all countries, individuals more frequently reported attitudinal (79.2%) rather than structural reasons (30.7%) for dropout. Disorder severity was associated with structural reasons; those with severe disorder (versus mild disorder) had 3.4 (95%CI=1.1–11.1) times the odds of reporting a structural reason. Regarding attitudinal reasons, those with lower income (versus higher income) were less likely to discontinue treatment because of getting better (OR=0.4; 95%CI= 0.2–0.9). Country specific variations were found. Not all countries, or the poorest, in the region were included. Some estimations couldn´t be calculated due to cell size. Causality cannot be assumed. Clinicians should in the first sessions address attitudinal factors that may lead to premature termination. Public policies need to consider distribution of services to increase convenience. A more rational use of resources would be to offer brief therapies to individuals most likely to drop out of treatment prematurely.