Active surveillance to know the reason for users' withdrawals in mental health service

Abstract

Objective: To conduct an active surveillance of users who withdrew themselves from a type I Center for Psychosocial Care over 30 days in order to know the reason for dropping out the treatment. Methods: Cross-sectional research conducted with 24 users who withdrew themselves from treatment for more than 30 days. The research instrument was a questionnaire on socioeconomic data, medical diagnoses, current medication and leading reasons to withdrawals. Results: From the participants, 67% were male with a mean age of 40 years. The disorders diagnosis, which prevailed, were the ones caused by substance abuse, which is also the main reason of withdrawals from treatment. Conclusion: The active surveillance revealed that psychoactive substance dependents are more prevalent in treatment withdrawals. © 2014 Acta Paulista de Enfermagem/Escola Paulista de Enfermagem/Universidade Federal de São Paulo.