Analysis of demand in the first visit to the mental health unit

Abstract

IntroductionThe first visit is crucial, since it is where a treatment plan is selected and the decision to refer or not the patient to a specialized unit is made. Mental care could be improved through the centralization of demand and the identification of patients’ and psychiatrists’ expectations.ObjectivesAnalyzing patients’ and psychiatrists’ demands and expectations in the first visit to use them as a starting point for the planning and coordination of treatment actions.AimsTo design a record system of the Minimum Basic Data Set of the Centralized Department of our Unit.MethodsThis is an epidemiological, observational, prospective study of patients referred to our department. Following variables were collected:– referral origin;– reason;– demographic data;– diagnosis impression;– destination of referral.The Statistical Package for Social Science version 19.0 was used to analyze the data.ResultsTable 1.ConclusionsThe data obtained are consistent with those reported in the literature for this population. The high rate of wrong referrals reveals the necessity of improving coordination and establishing specific referral criteria. Some initiatives have been designed and will be prospectively evaluated in the future.Table 1Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.