title: Psychiatric legal investigation for sickness benefits due to disability at the Brazilian Federal Social Security Special Court in Florianópolis, capital city of the State of Santa Catarina, southern Brazil.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the profile of insured individuals that filed claims for sickness benefits and compare the results of the administrative and legal investigations.
  
  
  METHODS
  This case series included 114 insured persons that filed lawsuits against the Brazilian National Institute of Social Security (Instituto Nacional de Seguridade Social, INSS). They underwent psychiatric examinations required by the Brazilian Federal Social Security Special Court in Florianópolis from August to December 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Mean age was 47 years, and participant age ranged from 24 to 64 years. Most insured individuals were women (79%), and most were employed (67.5%) and self-employed (26.5%) workers. Mean contribution time was 99.9 months, ranging from 8 to 352 months. Mean benefit duration was 20.4 months, ranging from 2 to 97 months. The most prevalent category of workers was service workers, store and supermarket salespeople (54.4%), followed by administrative workers (19.3%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Only 17 participants were found to be unable to work after benefit cessation, a 14.9% mismatch between administrative and legal investigations. The most frequent diagnoses were mood disorders (59.6%) and anxiety disorders (17.5%).
authors.affiliation: Brazilian National Institute of Social Security, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Figueredo
authors.affiliation: Social Security Special Court in Florianópolis, Florianópolis, SC, Brazil.
authors.forename: Fernando Balvedi
authors.initials: FB
authors.lastname: Damas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001938:Brazil; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D006233:Persons with Disabilities / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007342:Insurance Benefits / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009790:Occupations / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012943:Social Security / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D055815:Young Adult