Hospitalizations for anxiety more than double in four years, study says

Cases of depression grew in supplementary healthcare between 2020 and 2023, according to the study by the Institute of Supplementary Health Studies (IESS), released exclusively to CNN . The percentage of beneficiaries with the disease increased from 11.1% to 13.5% in the period. In November last year, there were 50.9 million beneficiaries in Brazil.

Research shows that the highest prevalence of depression occurs among women. The result of the analysis indicates that there was an increase in cases between 2020 and 2023, from 15.3% to 18.5%, respectively. Thus, one in five health plan beneficiaries has the disease.

During the period, there was a greater volume of cases among young people aged 18 to 39. The number rose from 9.8% to 13% of beneficiaries in this age group, with growth of 3.2 percentage points.

For José Cechin, executive superintendent of IESS, the data is worrying and raises a warning signal. “The data shows that the Covid-19 pandemic was one of the aggravating factors for the increase in cases of related diseases. This also results in more costs for the sector, which spent on psychotherapy procedures alone increased, from R$181 million to R$269 million, between 2018 and 2022,” he states.

The study entitled “White January in Supplementary Health – Panorama of mental health among health plan beneficiaries”, was based on data from three surveys carried out by the Telephone Survey for Surveillance of Risk and Protective Factors for Chronic Diseases (Vigitel).

Increase in hospitalizations for anxiety

The survey showed that the number of events recorded per year were caused by CID F411, related to generalized anxiety that has grown in recent years. From 2018 to 2022 the number of events more than doubled — from 794 to 2100 events.

“With this large increase in hospitalization events related to serious cases of anxiety that require medical care, we see that the number reveals a high incidence and an increase in this incidence among Brazilians. This needs to be looked at very carefully”, says Cechin.

Growth in number of queries

Another study by the institute, with data from the Assistance Map of the National Supplementary Health Agency (ANS), showed that, between 2019 and 2022, there was significant growth (60.8%) in the number of consultations and sessions with psychologists in Brazil. In the first year, there were 21.7 million and it jumped to 34.9 million three years later.

*(under the supervision of Felipe Andrade)