ABSTRACT
This study aimed to characterize the impacts that the Covid-19 pandemic caused in patients undergoing treatment for substance use disorders, in the outpatient psychiatric service of a teaching hospital in the interior of the State of Sao Paulo. A documentary research was carried out on 123 medical records of patients who received care at the Psychiatry Outpatient Clinic in the years 2019, 2020 and 2021. Data analysis showed that the largest portion of patients who abandoned treatment did so before the beginning of the pandemic and that there was no significant increase in substance use by patients who remained under follow-up during the pandemic period. It was concluded that the scenario of the Covid-19 pandemic was not the main variable that interfered with substance consumption and treatment adherence and that possibly intrinsic and extrinsic determinants also affected consumption and adherence. More research will be needed to assess other factors that affect substance use and treatment adherence in the population studied.