Cross-sectional study of readmissions to the psychiatric ward of Hospital Estadual Mário Covas in Santo André, state of São Paulo, between 2008 and 2015.

Objectives: To assess the sociodemographic and diagnostic profile of data related to psychiatric readmissions to the psychiatric ward at Hospital Estadual Mário Covas between January 2008 and September 2015, in order to investigate the possible correlation between the rate of admission and readmission and the presence or absence of a discharged patient unit or other outpatient treatment unit.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. Data on patients readmitted during the study period were sourced from a statistical analysis of the Hospital Estadual Mário Covas database using STATA 11.