OBJECTIVES: This study aims to analyze the profile of psychiatric hospitalizations within the public health service in Brazil between 2010 and 2012, analyzing the main causes of hospitalization, according to the International Classification of Diseases (WHO CID.10), the profile of patient and place of residence in Brazil. METHODS: Is a descriptive study on the profile of psychiatric hospitalizations within the public system of Brazil present in the database of the Hospital Information System (HIS) of the Ministry of Health from January 2010 to December 2012. RESULTS: Data analysis showed that there was no significant change in the number of cases between 2010 and 2012; the total number has remained at an average of 280.150 admissions per year. Remained the same profile of hospitalization: the majority of were for males (65%), 40% white, 26% brown and 6% black, and 28% of hospitalized patients do not report skin color. The most admissions occurred between the ages of 30 and 49 years (50%).Regarding the causes of hospitalization, classified according to ICD-10 (F00-F99), the pattern found was 35% of the causes of hospitalization for schizophrenia, 20% are disorders related to alcohol use, 18% are related disorders psychotropic and 18% are mood disorders. Other causes, such as dementia, and others appear less than 5% of cases each. Regarding the profile of admissions by place of residence, it was observed that the more developed regions of the country had the highest percentage of hospitalizations, Southeast (42%) and South (28%). CONCLUSIONS: This study show that use of secondary data in surveys, from information system health, plus the low cost generated, an important source of epidemiological information, especially in countries with universal coverage of public health services such as Brazil , in which the majority of the population depends on the public health system.