Demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of patients from psychiatric hospitals in the city of Rio de Janeiro

Knowledge on the characteristics of patients admitted to psychiatric hospitals is essential to adequate care, yet such information is not always available. A survey was conducted on patients in the 20 psychiatric hospitals in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This paper presents demographic and socioeconomic data on the study population: 3223 persons (66.0% male; 52.6% under 40) on October 24, 1995. 73.8% had not finished elementary school; 25.5% were illiterate. 71.6% of the males and 61.1% of the females were single. Both groups had the same divorce percentage (13%). 43.1% of patients had jobs at the time of first admission, but only half had kept them by the time of this survey. Some 50% of the patients only received visits at extended intervals or not at all. This finding, plus the fact that 37.4% had been hospitalized for more than one year and 65. 1% did not leave the hospital during holidays or weekends, provides a picture of their social isolation. The findings are discussed based on epidemiological data, and hypotheses are suggested to explain some of the results.