Abstract

CORDEIRO, Mayara Giuli dos Santos et al. Elderly people served in a psychiatric emergency and urgency service. SMAD, Rev. Eletrônica Saúde Mental Álcool Drog. (Ed. port.) [online]. 2021, vol.17, n.1, pp. 39-47. ISSN 1806-6976.  http://dx.doi.org/10.11606/issn.1806-6976.smad.2021.158278.

OBJECTIVE: characterize the elderly treated in a Psychiatric Emergency and Urgency Service regarding their sociodemographic profile, psychiatric diagnosis, prescription of medication and medical conduct and evaluate their associations with sex. METHOD: a cross-sectional, quantitative study in which data was obtained from the medical records of patients seen in the referred service, between July/2015 and June/2016. The independent variable was gender and dependents were: age; origin; informant; previous psychiatric treatment; diagnosis; prescribed drugs and conduct. RESULTS: in the 152 medical records analyzed, the prevailing age is between 60 and 69 years old, most of them women, coming from the local municipality and attending with a companion. The prevalent diagnoses are schizophrenia and mental and behavioral disorders resulting from the use of psychoactive substances. The most frequently prescribed medications are in the class of antipsychotics and antihistamines, followed by anxiolytics/sedatives. Beers' criteria consider the prescription of benzodiazepine, antipsychotic and antihistamine medications inappropriate for the elderly. The main conduct was discharge, without referral to another service. CONCLUSION: although there is encouragement from the Ministry of Health, with the creation of new mental health policies, many professionals maintain the model of care based on complaint and conduct, hindering the psychosocial rehabilitation of patients.

Keywords : Elderly; Psychiatric Emergency Services; Medicines Medical Records.

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