[Reasons given by patients for inappropriate use of emergency medical services].

Objective: The aim of this study was investígate the reasons for the demand for these services by users rated on two non-urgent emergency care units of a medium-sized municipality of São Paulo.

Methodology: Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 756 individuals who sought the services of emergency care units and, of these, 417 (55%) users were classified as non-urgent risk and were eligible for the study.

Results: It was observed six major categories of motives among that seeking care in emergency care units: lack of infrastructure of the nearest health unit; perception of pain and symptoms of emergency; home/work proximity; takes care of scheduling and primary health care; quality of care in the emergency care units; habit of attending services.