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Prevalence of mental illness, intellectual disability, and developmental disability among homeless people in N agoya, J apan: A case series study
Author(s) -
Nishio Akihiro,
Yamamoto Mayumi,
Ueki Hirofumi,
Watanabe Takahiro,
Matsuura Kenshin,
Tamura Osamu,
Uehara Ryosuke,
Shioiri Toshiki
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
psychiatry and clinical neurosciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.609
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1440-1819
pISSN - 1323-1316
DOI - 10.1111/pcn.12265
Subject(s) - mental illness , intellectual disability , psychiatry , wechsler adult intelligence scale , psychology , clinical psychology , population , mood , mental health , medicine , cognition , environmental health
Aim While it has been reported that the prevalence of mental illness is higher in homeless people than in the national population, few studies have investigated the prevalence of intellectual and developmental disability among the homeless. In this study, we conducted a survey to comprehensively assess these mental problems among homeless people in N agoya, J apan. Methods The subjects were 18 homeless men. Mental illness was diagnosed with semi‐structured interviews conducted by psychiatrists. We used the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III to diagnose intellectual disability. Discrepancies between Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III subtest scores were used as criteria for developmental disability. Results Eleven of the 18 participants were diagnosed with mental illness: six with mood disorder, two with psychotic disorder, and six with alcohol problems. The mean IQ of all subjects was 83.4 ± 27.4. The 95% confidence interval ( CI ) was 96.2–69.1. Seven participants were found to have intellectual disability. Three men showed discrepancies of more than 10 between subtest scores, and all of them were diagnosed with a mental illness. We divided the participants into four groups: those with mental illness only; those with intellectual disability only; those with both problems; and those without diagnosis. The men with intellectual disability only were significantly younger and had been homeless since a younger age than the other groups. Participants diagnosed with a mental illness had been homeless for longer than those without mental health problems. Conclusion Although the sample size was limited, this study revealed the high prevalence of mental illness and intellectual disability, 61% (95% CI , 35–83%) and 39% (95%CI, 17–64%), respectively, in homeless people in N agoya, J apan.