Over the past 40 years, services for psychiatric patients have become increasingly deinstitutionalized, shifting away from inpatient facilities.as a result, patients seek other avenues for treatment, including outpatient facilities and community resources. Unfortunately, those resources have also become increasingly constrained by widespread budget cuts, leaving patients with the health care system's last remaining safety net—the emergency department (ED).

Because EDs are seeing increasing numbers of patients, hospital administrators have recognized the importance of improving throughput and the quality of care delivered in EDs.

The aim of this report is to investigate the gender difference among patient's profile in psychiatric emergency room, assessing the socio-demographic and clinical characteristics, reasons for attendance and practices.

Retrospective and observational study, conducted at Centro Hospitalar e Universitário de Coimbra, during a three month period. Statistical analysis of data with “SPSS 21”.

During the three months period, a total of 2309 patients were admitted in Psychiatric ED, 1485 female and 824 male.

Regarding clinical data, the authors are expecting to find different psychopathology among male and female, as well as psychiatric comorbidities, diagnoses after discharge, treatment conducts, social support and different rates of psychiatric comorbidities.

Factors such as patient's vulnerability, defined by socio-demographic elements, characteristic as the type and severity of their mental illness, social support, treatment adherence, with significant implications of prognosis, costs and care. The conducted study enabled us to outline a profile of male and female psychiatric patients in ED.

The authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.