title: Use of psychotherapy in a representative adult community sample in São Paulo, Brazil.
abstract: Little is known about the use of psychotherapy to treat common mental disorders in a major city in a middle-income country. Our data come from in-home interviews with a stratified random sample of 2000 community residents aged 18 to 65 years in the city of São Paulo, Brazil. The information obtained included sociodemographic characteristics; psychotropic drugs; mental status; and lifetime, previous 12 months, and current use of psychotherapy. Logistic regression was used to examine determinants of use of psychotherapy. Of the sample, 22.7% met General Health Questionnaire-12 criteria for common mental disorders. Lifetime, previous 12 months, and current use of psychotherapy were reported by 14.6%, 4.6%, and 2.3% of the sample, respectively. Users typically were women, were more educated, had higher income, were not married, were unemployed, and had common mental disorders. Further analysis found that 47% (with higher education and income) paid out-of-pocket, and 53% used psychotropic medication. Psychotherapy does not seem to be the preferred treatment of common mental disorders.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Psychiatry, Federal University of São Paulo (Escola Paulista de Medicina-UNIFESP), São Paulo, Brazil; †Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC; and ‡University Bandeirantes, São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: Sergio L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Blay
authors.forename: Gerda G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Fillenbaum
authors.forename: Paula Freitas R
authors.initials: PF
authors.lastname: da Silva
authors.forename: Erica T
authors.initials: ET
authors.lastname: Peluso
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D004363:Drug Utilization / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D008875:Middle Aged; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011159:Population Surveillance; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011619:Psychotropic Drugs / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D011619:Psychotropic Drugs