Nathalia Nakano Telles, Heloísa Garcia Claro, José Carlos Marques de Carvalho, Márcia Aparecida Ferreira de Oliveira

To identify the sociodemographic and clinical variables that influenced the daily costs of children and adolescents who stayed overnight in Type III Centro de Atenção Psicossocial Infantojuvenil (CAPSij - Child and Adolescent Psychosocial Care Center) or in hospital reference or emergency and urgent care from the perspective of society in the year 2023. This is a retrospective cost analysis. Direct and indirect costs were collected. A mixed technique was used to measure costs, prioritizing the micro-costing approach and the bottom-up method for valuation. Factors influencing costs were evaluated using univariate statistical models. The study included 399 users. The average total cost was R$ 6,704.38 (US$ 1,149.99) and the average daily cost was R$ 1,097.97 (US$ 188.33). There was statistical significance in the correlation between daily cost and age, race, diagnostic subgroup, referral to the service, and reason for seeking care. The variable with the greatest positive variation in daily cost was seeking care for drug use (R$ 125.82; US$ 21.58), while the variable with the greatest negative variation in daily cost was being referred by another service (R$ 139.86; US$ 23.99). To make more efficient use of available resources, it is up to the child and adolescent mental health care network to invest in the early care of children and adolescents, especially those who are most vulnerable and who may have problems with drug use, and to increasingly encourage coordination between services.