Lifetime prevalence of mental disorders among homeless people in a southeast city in Brazil

Abstract

Several studies have shown a high prevalence of mental disorders among homeless people. Data from developing countries, like Brazil, are conspicuously lacking, making it difficult to plan interventions targeted to this group’s mental health. The sample was selected from street dwellers in Juiz de Fora, a city with 424 479 inhabitants in the Southeast of Brazil. People of 18 years of age or more who had been living outdoors for at least 12 months were eligible for the study. The psychophathology was assessed by using SCAN (Schedule for Clinical Assessment in Neuropsychiatry). After 3 months, it was possible to assess 83 persons. All but one had at least one psychiatric diagnosis according to ICD-10. The most frequent diagnoses were alcohol abuse/dependence (82%), mood disorders (32.5%), drug abuse/dependence (31.3%), and schizophreniform psychosis (9.6%), with a high rate of comorbidity (78.3%). The occurrence of mental disorders was present in almost the entire sample. The authors link this to sampling framing and weakness of the homeless care network system, due to economic constrain and social inequality within the country.