Community health services and risk of readmission in public psychiatric hospitals of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, 2005-2011

Abstract Introduction The readmission phenomenon in psychiatry not only reflects the severity and chronicity of the underlying disorders, but also indicates the quality of mental healthcare. In the context of the Brazilian mental healthcare reform, no study has included the availability of outpatient care among the potential determinants for psychiatric readmission. Objective To correlate the availability of community healthcare resources at the place of residence with the risk of psychiatric readmission. Methods All admission records from 2005 to 2011 in the two public psychiatric hospitals of Belo Horizonte were included (n=19,723). Variables related to patients and characteristics of hospitalization were collected, and indicators of community healthcare coverage were calculated for each place of residence yearly. The outcome of interest was early (