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Health status and utilisation of the healthcare system by homeless and non‐homeless people in V ienna
Author(s) -
Wagner Julia,
Diehl Katharina,
Mutsch Livia,
Löffler Walter,
Burkert Nathalie,
Freidl Wolfgang
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
health and social care in the community
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.984
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1365-2524
pISSN - 0966-0410
DOI - 10.1111/hsc.12083
Subject(s) - health care , gerontology , medicine , nursing , psychology , psychiatry , political science , law
This case–control study describes the health situation, internal and external resources, and utilisation of healthcare facilities by a marginalised population consisting of homeless people in V ienna, A ustria, compared with a non‐homeless control population. Among the homeless group, participants lived in halfway houses (70%) or permanent housing (30%) in V ienna. Personal interviews were conducted in J uly 2010 with 66 homeless individuals, and their data were compared with data from non‐homeless subjects from the A ustrian H ealth I nterview S urvey using conditional logistic regression. Compared with the control group, homeless persons suffered more often from chronic diseases ( P < 0.001) and rated their health considerably lower than the comparison group ( P < 0.001). Homeless people suffered significantly more often from psychiatric disorders, respiratory diseases, hypertension ( P < 0.001), digestive system diseases ( P = 0.002) and heart diseases ( P = 0.015) in comparison with the control group. Additionally, among homeless and non‐homeless individuals, the former more often consulted a general practitioner in a period of 28 days ( P = 0.002). A significantly greater proportion of homeless people did not have any teeth ( P = 0.024) and smoked significantly more ( P = 0.002). The results demonstrate deficits in the areas of health, health behaviour, and individual and social resources of homeless people, even though homeless people seek medical care at a higher rate than controls. Continuing health promotion projects for this high‐risk group and the strengthening of social resources are recommended.