Correlation between the implementation of Psychosocial Care Centers and the rates of psychiatric hospitalizations and suicide in Porto Alegre-RS from 2008 to 2018

INTRODUCTION: The Brazilian psychiatric reform has revolutionized the way that mental health care is provided all over the country, introducing the Psychosocial Care Centers (CAPS) and encouraging care at liberty. The CAPS have been assigned many objectives, such as prevention of hospitalizations and intervention in crises or suicide. This paper aims to describe the correlation between the implementation of CAPS and the rates of psychiatric hospitalizations and suicides from 2008 to 2018. METHODS: This study has an ecological time series design and included residents of the city of Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil, who were hospitalized through the Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS). The data were obtained from official databases (DATASUS, CNES, and IBGE) and indicators were calculated (CAPS coverage, hospitalization rate, and suicide rate). Associations between the indicators were tested using Pearson’s correlation coefficients. RESULTS: We found a negative correlation between provision of CAPS and psychiatric hospitalizations (r = -0.607 p = 0.048). CONCLUSION: These results support the hypothesis that there is a negative correlation between implementation of the CAPS and psychiatric hospitalizations. This reinforces the importance of implementing policies related to improving psychiatric reform.