Borderline Personality Disorder and Other Personality Disorders in a Specialized Mental Health Center in Quito: Trend Analysis of Institutional Records
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47606/ACVEN/MV0348Keywords:
Borderline Personality Disorder, Personality Disorders, Institutional Trends;, Mental Health Services, Quito.Abstract
Introduction: Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is one of the most frequent personality disorders; it presents a broad range of symptoms and comorbidities, which complicates its therapeutic management. It is associated with high suicide rates and increased demand for mental health services. In Ecuador, there are no large-scale epidemiological studies on this condition. Objective: To analyze the evolution of diagnostic frequencies of BPD (F60.3) and other personality disorders in first-time outpatient psychiatric consultations, according to sex, based on ten years of available records between 2014 and 2024. Materials and methods: Retrospective observational study of trends using institutional databases from the Specialized Outpatient Care Center (CAAE) San Lazaro in Quito. A total of 1,257 anonymized records were examined through descriptive analysis of annual frequencies, estimation of annual percentage growth rates using Poisson or Negative Binomial regression according to the degree of data dispersion, and comparison of proportions by sex using the chi-square test with corrections for multiple comparisons. Results: BPD accounted for 22.7% of diagnoses (n=285), with a significant predominance among women (80.0%; OR=2.57; 95% CI: 1.87-3.53; p<0.001). Unspecified personality disorder (F60.9) was the most frequent diagnosis (65.5%; n=824), with an annual growth rate of 43.55% (p<0.001). The total volume of consultations increased by 320% between 2014 and 2024. Conclusions: A descriptive increase of 320% in the total volume of consultations was observed between 2014 and 2024, corresponding to the point-to-point comparison between the first and last year of the series, although the modeled year-to-year trend did not reach statistical significance. In addition, changes in diagnostic patterns were observed, with a sustained shift toward unspecified personality disorder (F60.9). These findings provide a baseline for the strategic planning of mental health services in the Ecuadorian context.
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